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When we start writing stories we always start with “once upon a time”. We start at the chronological beginning. And then we work our way to happily ever after. The end is uncertain until the last page. We find trials and tribulations on our storybook journey, and then struggle to find solutions.

When we read the Bible, it appears that it is written that way too, for the very first line we find is:

Genesis 1: 1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

So it appears that the Lord started in the beginning of the story too. The first line is the foundation of the world, the earth. But did he? When we look into the book, we find quite a different answer.

1 Peter 1: 19But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

So we find here that the Lord Jesus was foreordained before the foundation of the world to suffer and die, even though that action was manifested in the last days. Before the foundation of the world? The first line in the Bible is the foundation of the world, so even before the Lord started writing the Bible, he already had this in his mind. Let’s look deeper.

Revelation 13: 8And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Both the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ and the predestination of His Bride were foreordained, and complete prior to the foundation of the world, prior to Genesis 1:1. There are no accidents in the Lord God, there are no coincidences, there are no mistakes. He is perfect in all things.

When we write a book, we face tribulations and find solutions.

The Lord started with the end, then found tribulations to bring out that end. There is no chance for failure for the end was written even before the beginning. Our fate was sealed in Christ Jesus before the first subatomic particle was spoken into existence.

The Lord did not happen upon sin and iniquity and search for a solution to it. He already had the solution written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life, then created a universe in which to compel that solution. He created an atmosphere in which opportunities to express the solution would be found.

And through his infinite foreknowledge he already knew what your decision would be. He knew who would accept, and who would reject. He knew the scoffers, he knew who would nail him to the cross. He knew that you would be reading this today and whether or not you would receive it. He knew the end from the beginning. And because he did, he could write his word with absolute, unfailing certainty. That is how the Bible is perfect, the end was already known before the story was written.

50 But God by foreordination… We don’t want to call the word predestination. It’s a bad word to use before the people. But God, by foreknowledge can predestinate: God is infinite. Do you believe that? And He knowed everything that would be on the earth ’fore He created it. You believe that? If He didn’t, He couldn’t tell the end from the beginning. He knows all things. Therefore He could love Jacob and hate Esau before either one were born. He’s not willing that any should perish. No, sir. But His foreknowledge let Him know that they would perish anyhow, so He could predestinate everything to work to His glory.58-0207 – Jesus Christ The Same Yesterday, Today, And Forever
Rev. William Marrion Branham
http://table.branham.org

Brothers and sisters, we worry too much. We have no right to worry, for worry is unbelief, and unbelief is sin.

The Bible did not start at Genesis 1:1, that is just where the Lord started to create the atmosphere to reveal, demonstrate, manifest and vindicate the pre-written solution.

The Bride, the Church and the Difference

Notes from Message Ministered unto the Youth at Restored Word Fellowship in Edmonton on Friday Evening, March 2nd 2018, by Bro Paul Brake

Luke 17: 11 And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: 13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. 14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. 15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. 17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?

Were there not ten, but where are the nine?

May the Lord add his Blessing to the reading of His Holy Word.

Ten lepers came to the Lord Jesus. Now I want you to notice something here about these men. They recognized Jesus as the Prophet, as the Messiah. They recognized his authority and power to heal. They recognized that his message was from God. They had a church to go to with a priest for Jesus sent them to their pastor, to their church to testify of him. They were “In the Message” for Jesus Christ IS both the Message and the Messenger!

They were not out in a Saducee or Pharisee denominations. They were not the Baptists, Catholics, Orthodox, Methodists, Presbyterians, Evangelicals, Pentecostals of their day. Those denominations were all with the High Priest, all rejecting Christ; just as they are today.

The denominations have their High Priest today. They have their Pope. He is their High Priest. This might sting some.

If your denomination is part of the World Council of Churches,

if your church baptizes in titles,

baptized with sprinkling,

baptizing babies,

if you believe in the trinity,

if you put up a Christmas tree,

If you are handing out candy at Halloween, or worse, dressing up

If Women wearing pants and bobbing their hair,

Wearing earings, make-up, nail polish, pants, short skirts, bikinis,

Going to dances, pool halls, half naked at the beach,

Playing Bingo, going to the Casino, buying lottery tickets,

If you reject the Message of the Hour,

Then the Pope is your High Priest!

You can have him. We Christians have our High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, who entered into the Holiest of Holies once and forever with his own blood as the sacrifice for all sins. We have a High Priest that can be touched by the feelings of our infirmities. We have a High Priest of our profession. When I professed him as my saviour, he saved me. When I professed him as my healer, he healed me. When I professed him as my deliverer, he delivered me. My High Priest as the Alpha and Omega, the Creator, the Almighty God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And now I will profess that he will Rapture me, and soon I will be gone.

Praise and Glory be to God!

And as they crucified Jesus in the flesh 2000 years ago, calling him a devil, the denominations have crucified him afresh today. They have rejected his headship for the headship of men. They have rejected his Word for traditions, psycholgoy, sociology, creeds and dogmas and politics.

They are not even Christians! What they practice, their traditions, their dogmas, their creeds are not the Word of God. They are pagan! They are steeped in Heathen customs and idolatry that the Bible strictly forbids! And they have today, for the most part, all received the Mark of the Beast, and they don’t even know it. The world is a darkness and the people a gross darkness.

To be a Christian, we must be Born Again. Jesus said in John 3:3 that except we be born again will won’t even see the Kingdom of God, let alone go there. The first step in the New Birth is repentance and proper baptism of full immersion in water in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38-39). Without that specific baptism we carry our sin, and have absolutely no remission. Without that baptism, we can never receive the Holy Spirit. Without that baptism, and that specific baptism in that specific way, we are LOST!

Could Naaman the Syrian be cleansed from Leprosy by any other way that exactly obeying the Word of God from the Prophet that told him to dunk seven times in the Jordan? (2 Kings 5) There is a way that seems right unto men, the end thereof is death.

In the denominations they have neither remission of sins nor the Holy Spirit. They have no remission of sins. They are not born again. They are heathens. That is a hard word but I am responsible to tell you the truth. They are not the Foolish Virgins for they are not virgins. They have all committed spiritual fornication with the woman on the beast of Revelation 17. They are the wicked and adulterous generation of our day. And each and every one of them will be judged under the Law.

And today we have heathens in the Message!

Acts 20: 29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

We have all seen that, and it is nothing new. How many Eighth Messengers have come along? And how many innocent men have been proclaimed as such, against there will? Even the Prophet of Malachi 4:5-6 had to shoot the snake in the head when they were proclaiming him as Christ. Brother Branham was not Christ, nor did he ever say he was, yet people went totally contrary to the Word, to his message, contrary to his will and proclaimed him as such.

The ten lepers were called out! They were not in the denominations. They were the CHURCH! They were there with Jesus while HE was preaching. They were in the Message Church of their day listening to the Message of the Hour from the mouth of the Messiah, and they knew it. Today we have hundreds of Message Churches. Jesus had only one, and it was the field where he happened to be standing at the moment.

They recognized him. They recognized the day of their visitation.

They came to him for healing – believing – and received it!

Every one of those ten lepers personally experienced a supernatural miracle in their flesh with the Lord Jesus Christ! Don’t miss this.

Every single one of those ten lepers, the one who came back AND the nine who did not, personally experienced a supernatural miracle in their flesh, the Spoken Word of God, Logos, being manifested in power and demonstration, with the Lord Jesus Christ!

How many people attended the Prophet’s meetings over the three decades or so and received miracles in their flesh, supernatural signs and wonders, in the Prophet’s Ministry from the Lord Jesus Christ? Hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people received a Supernatural Miracle at the direct prayer of the Prophet to the Lord Jesus Christ. We have the records of it on tape.

In some meetings tens of thousands were healed all at once!

How many receive miracles in Message Ministries and Churches today?

How many have received miracles at Restored Word Fellowship in Edmonton?

How may came back to the Lord Jesus to give him the glory?

Where are the Nine?

Matthew 25: 1Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: 4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. 7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. 9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. 11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

All of the ten virgins were pure. They were sinless. We must get the idea out of our heads that the foolish virgins are the denominations. That is completely wrong. They were still in the denominations when the Prophet was preaching because he was calling out the Church, calling out the Bride. That was 60 years ago. The Church has been called out.

The denominations are the Beast Worshipers today. They have the Mark of the Beast. The Foolish Virgins do not receive the Mark of the Beast, do not worship the Beast or his Image. but neither do they have Oil, the Holy Spirit baptism.

Now the Image of the Beast is the World Council of Churches. Every organization and individual that is part of that are in the Beast System and have received the Mark of the Beast. Strong words, but I have to speak the truth for I will be held accountable one day.

We are all called out of that. Both the Wise and Foolish Virgins are called out from that system. They are BOTH in the Message of the Hour today! The Foolish Virgins fellowship with the Wise Virgins. They were together in the parable! They attend the same fellowships. They take the Lord’s Supper together. They are even married to each other!

There are Wise Virgins Preaching in the Message Pulpits.

There are Foolish Virgins Preaching – In the Message Pulpits!

There are Serpent’s Seed Preaching – In the Message Pulpits!

Don’t be fooled. Don’t be deceived. By their fruits ye shall know them.

Luke 7: 31 And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like? 32 They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.

We sit Wednesday after Wednesday, Youth Meeting after Youth Meeting, Sunday after Sunday, morning and evening, as the Holy Ghost filled, God sent Endtime Fivefold Ministry, cries to us, begs of us, pleads with us. We have anointed musicians play, as anointed singers sing. We applaud and say “amen”. We sit, we hear, and we go away.

Where are the Nine?

Now be careful. I am not preaching about the Nine really, I am preaching about the ONE, to the ONE. But to understand your position as that ONE, you first need to understand the position of the Nine. We need to undestand who the Nine are and why they behave as they do, and what that behaviour is so that we don’t become a part of it. We need to know the wrong behaviour so that we can check ourselves against it. So don’t go pointing fingers at someone now, because the one you point at might just well be the innocent one. If you want to point a finger, point it directly at yourself, that you can confirm that you are the ONE.

Sunday morning we had a full house here in Edmonton. Sunday morning the Lord anointed our Pastor Klar and he brought a wonderful message from the Word of God and everyone was blessed by it. Sunday morning, with a standing room only crowd, the Lord broke the Bread of Life to us.

And on Sunday evening, Where Were the Nine?

Some indeed have a reason, but not all. So like I said, don’t be pointing a finger. We ain’t witch hunting, we are looking at the trend. We are looking to identify a behaviour to make sure that WE are not guilty of it.

Why did they not all come back? In the morning you could not find a seat, in the evening, a few short hours later, one half of the building was half full, the other was completely empty.

In the morning we had a wonderful song service. We had a wonderful message. The Deacons were perfectly on cue. The musicians didn’t miss a note. Everyone had done their job perfectly.

We piped to you!

But…… you did not dance.

We mourned to you!

But…… you did not weep.

And in the evening, just a few short hours later….. Where Were the Nine?

There is a Bride. There is a Church. But there is a Difference.

Luke 13: 23 Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. 25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: 26 Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. 27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. 28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.

Every member of the Bride will be in the Church, but not every member of the Church will be in the Bride.

The Nine will come back, but it will be too late. The Master of the House will have risen up from the Mercy Seat, taken the Book of Redemption, and caught his Bride away. But the Nine are too busy today. They have no time for church. They don’t have time to pray. They don’t have time to testify. They have no time for the Lord.

Did you notice the words they spoke? They said “you preached in our streets”. That tells you that they were in the Message, under a Holy Ghost anointed Ministry. “You” preached. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, preached to them, not just a man. They were preached to by Christ through the Holy Ghost filled and anointed Fivefold Ministry.

Then they said “we ate and drank with you”. That is the Lord’s Supper. They are not talking about a restaurant or coffee shop. Don’t be carnal enough to think something that foolish. They are partaking of the Lord’s Supper with the Saints of the Living God, with the Bride of Christ. This is NOT a denominational bunch.

That should scare you half to death. That should make you drop to your knees and cry out to the Lord God until you get confirmation. That should make you fast and pray and search every corner of your life, ever action, every word, every thought, every emotion, every desire, every motive to ensure that you are the ONE, the Bride, filled and sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.

Did you also notice one more fact that should make you tremble to your very foundation?

Not one single Foolish Virgin got Oil!

ALL of them were left behind. They ALL went after it, but too late and in the wrong way, and none of them were filled. Not Even One! If we wait until the Midnight Cry, if we wait until the Bride’s Revival, we will wait too long.

DO IT NOW!

While they may be very religious among Christians, that seems to go away when they get into the world. If their lamps dim now, what will happen during the squeeze? Their lamps will go out. You will find that they may sing, pray, jump around, speak with tongues even, they rarely bring guests. They are Sunday Christians. Soon the Squeeze will come and it will be illegal to be a Christian, even a Sunday Christian. You will either be part of the system, or excommunicated from the world.

That means no jobs. That means no bank accounts or money. That means you cannot buy food. You will not be able to pay rent or mortgage. You won’t be able to pay car insurance or by gas. You won’t be able to go to a doctor or dentist. Not unless you bow to the Antichrist Pope and his Image, the Word Council of Churches. You will have to receive the Mark of the Beast, or die. And if you do try to meet for a church fellowship, you will be arrested.

How bright will the lights of the Foolish Virgins be then?

The things of the world, the things of this earthly life, are more important to them. They can’t muster strength now, what will happen when their lives are at stake?

They get ashamed of Christ today. They don’t testify to their neighbors or their coworkers. They are not seeking out the lost sheep. And they actually do not think they are doing anything wrong.

The Nine are in the Church, but they are NOT in the Bride!

They will “strive to enter in”. They are believers, but lukewarm Laodicea believers. They come to church, occasionally. They sing. They pray. They tithe. They pray, sometimes longer and louder than anyone else. They sometimes even have offices in the church, deacons, trustees, preachers even. But it is trivial to them. It is entertainment and tradition. They enjoy the social position of an office in a church body, but don’t have respect unto the responsibility. They have an intellectual understanding, sometimes a great intellectual understanding, but no Spiritual Revelation. It has never become real to them. It is just a tradition and a dead letter.

They do not live every waking moment for Christ. He is not front and center in their thoughts all day long. They have morals and ethics. They live good clean lives. They are after all Spiritual Virgins. But they are just Sunday Christians. They might be very religious, but with no depth. They are not sacrificing anything for the Kingdom of God. We must sell out completely!

Once the Squeeze comes, and it is not far away, once the Squeeze comes, the Foolish Virgins will look to the Bride for Salvation. They will see the Bride of Christ manifest the Third Pull, manifest the Spoken Word, and go to them, as they did to the Prophet. That is their problem all along, they look to men. They look to the Prophet, they look to the evangelist, they look to the pastor, to the popular preacher, they look to Billy Paul or Joseph Branham. They look to the latest and greatest Eight Messenger. But no matter how religious, how will they quote the Prophet, they never, ever, even once, look to Jesus Christ!

They always look to a man. The foolish virgins came to the wise asking for oil. They came to the Bride, not the Groom.

Sting time again.

When the Word of God is preached by the Spirit of God, they get pricked to their hearts. Their own heart condemns them for they know they ain’t living it. They get the Staff as we heard on Wednesday, and they don’t like it. They don’t like the rebuke they feel, and instead of repenting and growing, they reject it and blame the minister for “picking on them”. Then they retaliate by back stabbing the Ministry. That is a fatal mistake for the Lord commanded “Touch NOT mine anointed”.

You wonder why people change Fellowships? That is usually the reason. Look at your Fellowship. It is probably no different from ours. Now we are not perfect, but nobody can legitimately point a finger of blame at the Ministry doing anything intentionally wrong, yet people leave here for other churches. Why? That is why.

Either they are getting nervous and paranoid because people are figuring them out, or they think people are figuring them out, or simply their hearts are still condemning them and they don’t like it. Did you ever notice how empty Churches are on nights when we have the Lord’s Supper? No trouble getting seat that day.

Or worse, they come for entertainment and socializing, and we are too boring for them. Maybe we ain’t big and popular enough for them. Our preachers are not fancy orators. They don’t jump around enough. Maybe they don’t preach enough on politics and current affairs. Maybe our building isn’t fancy enough or our website doesn’t get enough hits.

Now, you got a bunch of Rickys in there that wants to come like the rest of them, like Israel did, wanted a—wanted a king of their own. You want to make your own. See? And now what you got? A bunch of educated Rickys. That’s right. They got this intellectual. They want to be like the rest of them, Dr. So-and-so, and Dr. So-and-so. See? And where has it got you to? You’re more prettier. That’s right. They’re better churches. But where is that Spirit was in there? Where is them all-night prayer meetings, “Them sin of the city”?

228 Remember, the Holy Spirit said, “In the last days, go seal those only who cry and sigh for the abominations did in the city.”

229 I want you ministers to lay your hands upon that member of your church, you Pentecostal ministers. Then, when you find this, then you come and I’ll apologize to you. You find that member of yours that can’t rest day and night, for crying for the abomination of sins done in the city. Ninety percent of them stay home and see We Love Suzy, instead. Oh, you speak with tongues, sure, jump up-and-down and shout. That’s all right, nothing against that; nothing against your organization, either. But I’m trying to talk about Life. Where is It at?

Do you cry for the abominations of the city, of our city, of your Chruch? Not just of the world, of the city, of Spiritual Jerusalem, of the Church in the Message of the Hour. Do you cry for those who fellowship with us? Do you cry for the abominations in Laodicea? We look for the bears and lions, but we let the rats run loose and destroy. The little foxes spoil the vines. Do you cry for the Nine?

Do you Cry “Where are the NINE”?

Hebrews 10: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

The Nine will come back, but it will be too late. And they, true to form, will not come back to Christ, they will come back to men. They are seeking men for the Holy Spirit, not the Lord God. “Give us of your oil!” They cried. But they cry to the Bride, not to the Lord.

My oil isn’t my oil, it’s God’s oil. And he will only give me just enough for me. If you want oil, go to the one who sells it. Go to the Lord Jesus Christ. They are told to go to Christ.

But they don’t any get oil. Why? Brothers and Sisters, listen close, this is scary.

Revelation 22: 11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

It will be too late! The door will be closed!

There is coming a time when the Message will be preached to the LOST. There is coming a time when there will be no more mercy. Jesus will rise from the Mercy Seat to Rapture his Bride, and the space in between, the door will be shut. If you are filthy, you will be filthy forever. If you are Just, you will be Just, (Foolish Virgin looking for Oil), Forever.

Oh but if you are Holy, then you will be HOLY FOREVER!

Don’t you dare miss this!

Noah was sealed in the Ark for Seven Full Days before the first drop of rain fell. There will be a space before the Rapture, when it will be impossible to get saved. They will come, but like Esau who “sought carefully with tears”, no grace will be found for them.

DO NOT MISS IT!

279 But His Third Pull was when He preached to the lost that couldn’t be saved no more. They were down there where them big, painted eyes was, “Ooh, ooh!” Preached to the souls in hell, that did not accept mercy, but were Eternally separated from the Presence of God. But yet they had to recognize it, what He was, because God made Him there.

280 Wonder if His ministry climbs out the same way in the last days, as it was? “As the Father sent Me, so send I you. The works that I do shall you also.”

281 Lost, could never be saved. They had rejected mercy. That was His Third Pull.

282 Now is there any question? His First Pull, He healed the sick. Is that right? [Congregation says, “Amen.”—Ed.] His Second Ministry, He was prophesying. His Third Ministry was preaching to the Eternal lost. The three mountains, so forth; the lost, Eternal!

38 So now I am going to say something to you, now, that I haven’t said all along. And, that is, the thing that we have looked forward to for so long (for at least many years, four or five years, or maybe longer), the Third Pull, has now been vindicated, and I’m sure you all know what it is.

39 Now remember, there’ll never be an impersonation of that, ’cause it can’t be. See, it cannot be. Now it’s in existent. And I have…I am warned of this, that soon…Right at this time now it’s just happened, so it could identify its presence among you, see, but it will not be used in a great way until this Council begins to tighten up. And when it does, when that does…The Pentecostals, and so forth, can almost impersonate anything can be done. But when that time comes, when the squeeze comes down, then you’ll see, what you’ve seen temporarily, be manifested in the fullness of its power. See? See? See? See?

Now that is the Squeeze. That is the last call before the Rapture. It will get so bad for the Bride that we will need the Third Pull, the Manifested Spoken Word of God, literally speaking into existence the things we need, just to survive it. Is it any wonder that the Foolish Virgins will turn to man begging? Is it any wonder that the lamps of the Foolish Virgins will go out?

That is the Bride’s Revival. Don’t go looking for some preachers to sweep the land. Don’t go looking for a great Healing Campaign, that was the First Pull. Don’t go looking for Discernment Lines, that was the Second Pull. The Bride’s Revival will not be either of those. We won’t be laying on of hands. We won’t even be praying for the sick.

We will be Speaking the Word and God will Manifest it!

John 11: 41Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.42 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.

Jesus did not pray, except to inform the people that he did not need to pray. He merely spoke the Word, and it Manifested. As he is, so are we in the world. We will Speak the Word of God, and the Spoken Word will be Manifested. That is the Bride’s Revival!

If it will be that bad in the Squeeze, what will the Tribulation be like for the Foolish Virgins when there is not presence of God left in the gentile world and the devil has full control?

Get into Christ Today!

Be the one who came back. Be the one with Oil. Be the Bride of Christ. Turn to teh Lord Jesus Christ with your whole heart, your whole mind, your whole body, your whole soul, your whole being. Be the One.

There are the pieces. Here it is compiled.

The Third Pull will manifest during the Squeeze,

the Third Pull is the sign that Mercy has run out.

The Third Pull Manifestation is the true Bride’s Revival.

Once you see the Third Pull Manifestation, it will be too late to get into the Bride.

None of the Foolish Virgins got Oil!

WHERE ARE THE NINE?

BE THE ONE! YOU – BE THE ONE!

Resolve it in your heart this very moment, that if there is only one person on the whole earth who will be raptured, it will be you. This is no time to play games. If as in the days of Enoch, there is only one person on the whole earth that will make the Rapture, made the decision right now that it will be YOU. Then do everything you can to make it happen. Live for Christ alone. And even if a Billion were to be Raptured, YOUR name will be called first. Be the ONE. Hell is on fire, the devils are on fire, and about to break forth upon the earth with unbridled, murderous fury.

As Preached at Restored Word Fellowship in Edmonton on January 10th, 2018.

1 Peter 4: 17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Judgment begins at the House of God. Judgement begins right here, right now. It begins with us. We are judged by this Word of God. We can deny it all we want, but we cannot hide from it. There is nothing that we can hide from the Lord God. You can hide from me, or from your Pastor, or even from a Prophet, but you ain’t going to hide nothing from the Lord God. In fact, the thing that you are going to try to hide tomorrow, he already knows about it today.

Hebrews 4: 12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

The Word of God reveals. It cuts through the lies, cuts through deception, cuts through unbelief, and cuts through hypocrisy. The Word of God cuts through your religion, your creeds, your dogmas, your traditions, your cultures. It cuts through philosophy, psychology and sociology. The Word of God cuts right to the depths of our heart and soul.

Many times, I find, and I am sure you do too, that when you bring the Revealed Word of God to a sinner, they say that you are hateful and are condemning them. But I am not, and neither are you. So why would they feel that way?

When we hear the Word of God, we either accept it, or we reject it. If we accept it, then that Word will set us free and justify us in whatever it speaks. If we were liars and we heard the Word of God about lying, and we accept it and repent, then that Word justifies us. But if we reject the Word, then our own hearts are condemning us.

1 John 3: 20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

If we feel condemned when we hear the Word of God, the Message of the Hour, then it is not the preacher, it is not even the Word, it is our very own hearts that are condemning us. Just as Cain, who was condemned by the very existence of Abel, and hated him for it, we will hate the person speaking. We will think they hate us, and that they are attacking us, unfairly of course, because we are right and they are hateful condemners. We will them immediately tell them to “not judge lest they be judged”.

I don’t know your sins, nor do I want to. So, if you think I am condemning you, or your Pastor up here every Sunday is condemning you, then you are sadly mistaken. But if the Word I bring sounds hateful and condemning to your ears, then Brother, Sister, search yourselves for the Word I am bringing is not my words, but the Message of the Hour, the Revealed Word of God, and that condemnation you feel is coming from your very own heart.

That is why the people rejected Jesus and had him murdered. That is why the denominations hated the Prophet in our day. That is why the world will hate you. Absolutely it will, if you are living this Word of God, if you are born again. If you are born again and filled with the Holy Spirit, your very presence, without speaking a word, will make the hearts of the people condemn themselves. You will walk into a room, and they will feel it, and they will hate it.

They will hate the presence of God!

1 John 3: 12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

The world will hate you for your testimony, for your life, for your words, for the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ that dwells inside you.

58-0521 – Behold, I Stand At The Door And Knock – William Branham

Then there is another little door just—just, it’s right around the corner, is another little door, and that’s the door of selfishness: “I’ll let you in, Lord. I’ll join Your church,” and then, “just to see what I can get out of it.”

And sometimes that gets into preachers. And you know, they say, “Sure, I’ll be a minister, if everybody pat me on the back, and say, ‘You’re a good fellow.’” If everybody patted me on the back, and said I was a good fellow, I’d get to the altar just, quick as I could.

Hmm. I know there’d be something wrong, ’cause the Bible said, “Woe unto you, when all men speak well of you!” See. The world knows its own; the world will hate you. But God will love you.

The world will hate you, and love their own. How many message preachers have congregations of 10,000 people here in North American? How many even a thousand? The world hates it, hates the message, hates Jesus, hates his word, hates the truth, and hates them.

Look up any worldly preacher online and you will see thousands of pages promoting them and praising them. Look up William Branham and page after page after page of character assassinations. They write the most despicably evil lies about him. They attack him for every little thing, every off word, every slight of grammar, ever verbal stumble. They attack him for his lineage. They attack him for his education. They attack him for everything. Why? Because his very existence makes their own hearts condemn them.

The Manifested Sons and Daughters of God will be hated, rejected, persecuted, insulted, attacked, gossiped about, slandered and libeled by the world. And that same world will lift up and worship the devils.

Verily they are calling now for Oprah Winfrey to run for President!

Give Us Barabbas!

That cry never ceased. Let this rest in your hearts, and don’t be offended by the world, by their insults, accusations, attacks, hatred. It must be. It will be.

2 Timothy 3: 12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

Let not your hearts be troubled. This will happen. It is ordained to be. Just as Esau persecuted Jacob, Ishmael persecuted Isaac, Cain persecuted Abel, Judas persecuted Jesus, Alexander persecuted Paul. They will be against you, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. Don’t fight it. Don’t attack back. That is not the manifestation of the Sons of God.

Romans 12: 14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.

We are the Sons and Daughters of God! It is not enough to be children of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is not taking a child bride. He is marrying a mature woman, and elect Lady.

We must Grow Up!

We are ridiculously immature for the day and hour that we are living. We are children and need to grow up to be Sons and Daughters of God. We are weak and soft in this hour.

Get Weened Bride! Sink your teeth into a nice juicy steak in the Message!

We will never grow up if the only food we get is in Church. We will Fail to Thrive! We have to eat every day, and several times a day. You take a child and you feed him two meals on Sunday and one on Wednesday night and see how he grows. Now image the child who only comes for one meal a week and then sleeps through half of it.

Starvation! You will never grow like that. You will wither and die. You will be powerless to live a Godly life, and they when you do show up to a service, your own heart will condemn you when hearing the Word of God.

Amos 8: 11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:

The famine is not one of not preaching the Word of God, but of not HEARING the Word of God. Nobody comes to hear, and when they come, they still don’t hear. Jesus said to the people:

That is the case today. People do not understand this Message of the Hour because they cannot hear it. There is a famine of HEARING the Word of God, even in the Message Ranks. It is preached, and preached by the Spirit of God, but it is not HEARD! The hearts of the people are not prepared to receive it.

We do not feed at home. We do not listen to the tapes. We do not read the Bible. We don’t have a family altar. We don’t testify. We don’t live what we hear. We spend less time praying every day than we spend brushing our teeth!

We come in to this building that the Lord God gave us through his grace and mercy, and we hear amazing sermons by the Pastor and Brother Steve, then go out and forget it. We hear it, but we do not HEAR it! We do not apply that Word to our lives. We do not let that Word change us. Like looking in a mirror, the Bible says, then straightway forget what we just saw.

Then we wonder why we have no victory. We wonder why God does not answer our prayers. And we turn around and blame the Ministry.

Foolish Virgins!

Then we show up, and the Word of God is brought, and we fight it. We say “why is he picking on me?”. He ain’t picking on you Brother, your own heart is doing that. AMEN?

We Need to Grow Up! We need to be the Manifested Sons and Daughters of God!

Hebrews 5: 12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

You cannot send a baby to war. You need trained soldiers without fear. They need to be armed. They need experience on the battlefield. Gideon started out with thirty thousand men. But most were of no value to him. They were not warriors, they were not fighters. They were full of fear. Thus he weeded them down until he had only 300 men left. But every one of those men was a soldier! They were equipped. They were ready for battle. They had a clear eye, and clean heart, full of strength and character.

Ephesians 6: 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Soldiers are in uniform. We are at war! It is time to act like it. Your brother, your sister, they are fellow soldiers in the trenches with you. If you are fighting against them, you are doing the devil’s work for him. Satan wants us fussing and fighting. He wants to separate us.

Don’t work for Satan, his wages are not that good.

Your Ministry is supplying you with ammunition and food for the battle. If we are rejecting what they are ministering to us, sent to us from the Lord God, our mighty general the Lord Jesus Christ, how will we ever win? But you need more than three meals a week! You are fighting a war. How can soldiers will a war on three meals a week?

Make sure you are armed. Eat, eat, and eat, the Word of God, the Message of the Hour. Grow up! Get the whole armour of God!

Pray unceasingly for each other!

I cannot stress that enough. As Brother Jona Emke in Kelowna often says, if you are praying for someone, you won’t be talking about them. Pray, one for another.

57-0308 – The Good Shepherd Of The Sheep – William Branham

And I think when the Church gets real cold and indifferent, God’s sheep ought to kinda huddle up together and pray for each other. And the warmth of real good Christian fellowship, oh, it means so much. David spoke of it in the first Psalm, said, “Blessed is the man that setteth not in the seat of the scornful, standeth in the way of sinners. But his delight is in the law of the Lord: and in the law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree that’s planted by the river of water, and his leaves shall not wither; whatsoever he doeth it shall prosper.”

You see, this is the Manifestation of the Sons of God. Do you see it yet? The Rapture is being held back, not necessarily for the last sheep, that person may well be in the fold, but for the Manifestation of the Sons of God.

Romans 8: 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

All nature is sitting back, watching, waiting, moaning and groaning, waiting for the Manifestation of the Sons and Daughters of God. The sleeping Saints are waiting for the Manifestation of the Sons of God. They cannot rise until that first happens.

59-0712 – A Total Deliverance – William Branham

And when a one member would talk against the other member, you know that’s wrong. You are commanded to pray for one another, not to talk against one another, but to love one another. And if someone is down, let’s pick him up, help him. Now, that makes us a—a—a unified group of believers. Now, when we don’t obey that, then we don’t obey God and we displease God. And therefore, our church, our people cannot prosper, the church cannot go on, is because we are disunified, together. As Jesus said, “A little leaven leavens the lump.”

1 John 3: 10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER!

THAT IS THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SONS OF GOD!

John 13: 34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

By this, by your love one to another, by the Manifestation of the Sons of God, will the world know that you are the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. The world will hate you. The denominations will hate you. The foolish virgins may hate you. But the Bride will LOVE the Bride. The Sons and Daughters of God will love the Sons and Daughters of God.

We will pray one for another. When we show up here, we will be prayed up at home, we will not come here and pray for ourselves, we will pray for those that are here, and for those that are not.

At the Lord’s supper, the Bible tells us to tarry there for one another. We should be prayed up before we get there, then pray for each other.

The Manifestation of the Sons of God is LOVE!

Let us be the Manifested Sons of God. That also means this:

Matthew 5: 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

This is something that you can only do with the Holy Spirit. This love is Agape. We MUST love our enemies. We must truly, deeply, with all of our heart, love our enemies. Only the Spirit filled Bride can do that. Only Sons and Daughters of God can do that; children cannot. This only comes with true maturity in the Word of God, in the Message of the Hour, in the Holy Spirit.

Love Your Enemies!

57-0421E – And Their Eyes Were Opened And They Knew Him – William Branham

Let me tell you, just don’t join church now. That won’t work. You’ve got to be borned again. Not an emotional work-up; not some little something you said, “Well, I shouted. I spoke with tongues. I done this, that, or the other.” When really down in your heart, Something comes to change you, and you become a new creature in Christ Jesus; you received the Person, Christ Jesus; when old things die out, and new things are borned again; you make things right, that you did wrong; you love your enemies, you pray for those who despitefully use you; that’s when you’re a Christian. The tree is known by the fruit it bears.

Let us, this hour, right here, right now, be judged by the Word of God.

Let us all just grow up. Let us all become Sons and Daughters of God. Let us from this moment on, consecrate ourselves to the Lord God. Commit to reading the Bible. Commit to listening to tapes. Commit to prayer. Put on the whole armour of God. Take up our swords and our shields and go to war. Commit to Love.

Let every heart hear reconsecrate, rededicate to the Lord God. Let us renew our vows to the Heavenly Bridegroom.

Let us from THIS HOUR become the Manifested Sons and Daughters of God!

Pray one for another. The Bible says if you see someone taken in a fault, pray for them lest you be the next to fall. Pray for each other. Pray for the ministry. Pray for the musicians. Pray for the Deacons. Pray for the Trustees. Pray for the children.

Receive the Word the Lord brings. Let us not be critical of one another anymore. Pray one for another. Cry out to God and stand in the gap for your brother, for your sister. Let Jesus Christ manifest in you as it did in Moses. We are soldiers in the same trench. There is an old saying in war, that you are only as good as the man beside you. So, pray with all your heart for the man, the woman beside you.

Tonight, when we pray, let us not pray a single word for ourselves. Instead, pray for every other soul here, and for those who could not make it here. That man beside you, the woman behind you, that is the Bride of Christ, that is God’s wife, treat them as such.

Pray for them! Pour out your whole heart for them! Cry out to God for them!

Then, pray for your enemies! Pray for those who hate you. Pray for those who despitefully use you, who gossip about you, who insult you. Maybe they stole from you. Maybe they hurt you physically. Perhaps you were, or are, being bullied by somebody. Pray for their salvation, their healing, their deliverance.

Pray, with all your heart for them! We heard earlier that hatred is of the world, of the devil. The devil hates, Christians Love. Let Jesus Christ Manifest in you tonight!Be the Manifested the Sons and Daughters of God in His Holy Presence!

Remember Lot’s Wife

The Last Sign of the Last Junction in Time to the Bride

Remember Lot’s Wife

Luke 17: 35 Remember Lot’s wife.

A short Scripture with so much in it. This is a powerful word, and a word for today. There were four souls saved from Sodom, but only three souls survived. Verily the Angels had to take them by the wrists and drag them out of the city as it was about to burn. Ministers today often feel like they have to do the same. Four left, three made it.

There were tens if not hundreds of thousands of people living in Sodom. Yet in the whole city, the Lord God could not find even 10 people who were righteous enough to save. He had promised Abraham that if he could find ten righteous people there he would save the city.

Jesus said that the sign of the end of the world would be that our society would be like theirs. Just this week the Supreme Court of Oregon just upheld a decision to fine a baker $195 USD for refusing to bake a gay wedding cake.

In Sodom, Lot its mayor, had no legal right to prevent the homosexual rape of his guests. We are just one cake away from that today!

But just as the fire could not fall on Sodom until Lot was out of there, so too will the tribulation not fall today until the Bride is removed. And one step further, Noah was locked away in the Ark for seven full days before the first drop of rain fell.

We are approaching the time where the Gospel, the Message of the Hour, will be preached to the lost. It will be a day where there is no more mercy for any gentile upon the face of the earth. It will be a time where the Holy are Holy still, the Just are Just still, and the Filthy are Filthy still. Yet the Bride will still be here. Every lost sheep will be in the fold. There will be nobody else saved, but the Message will still be preached with power and demonstration in the Holy Spirit by the Bride of Christ. It will be a short time, but it will be.

But even before that takes place, there must be another event take place.

2 Thessalonians 2: 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

To fall away, we must first be in a place or a position to fall from. You cannot fall away from the Lutheran Church, or the Methodist Church, or any other denomination. They have nothing to fall away from. You can only fall away from the Message of the Hour. This also tells us that the Message had to come fulfilling Malachi 4:5-6 and Revelation 10:7 before even this event. And the Message came through the Prophet, brother William Branham, the messenger to the Laodicea Church Age. And the Lord God vindicated it with signs following. The time is at hand!

The Prophet came. The Message went Forth. The Prophet left. Now we are approaching the most important junction in ALL time and the sign of that time is Lot’s Wife!

They’ve went on down in Sodom and Gomorrah. And we find out that God, in that day, performed miracles. He brought fire out of the skies and sweep away the city, and cleaned off the land, and give it all to Abraham. And Lot’s wife turned to a pillar of salt, because she looked back, as a memorial of disgrace; who was a great lady amongst the societies of the city, of Gomorrah and Sodom. And all the valleys was swept out, when God performed the miraculous with fire and brimstone from heaven. 92 What a marvelous time! What a great time to live! God, in His omnipotence! There come a junction again. (I’m thinking I’m pressed for time, will have to hurry.) There come an Omnipotence, the Presence again.

The Lord God sent Billy Graham and Oral Roberts to preach to Sodom, and they dragged them out kicking and screaming by the hand, but then they have ALL turned back. Not just a quarter of them, ALL of them. The denominations of today, all the denominations, have all turned to Salt. They are finished and the Lord can no longer deal with them.

Deuteronomy 24: 1When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. 2 And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife.3 And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife;4 Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the Lord: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

As we saw on Wednesday, the Lord sent Luther with a Message of Justification to the Church of his day, but before the Lord could perfect them, they adulterated. They organized and returned to what they were called out of; back to Momma Rome. They received a wrong seed, but not from Luther. The Lord God had to divorce them and could not turn back to them ever.

When he sent Wesley with the message of Sanctification, he needed to start anew again. He could not simply send the Message, the seed, of Sanctification to a sealed, adulterated womb. He needed a virgin womb for his seed, just as he needed a virgin womb for the seed of Christ. Thus, he started afresh. He built on Luther’s Message, for that message was of the Lord, but not through the Lutheran Church. That group had already become a harlot daughter of Momma Rome, organized and under the headship of men.

And once again before he could perfect that Church that Wesley had called out, they adulterated in the same way and then he had to start anew when he sent the gifts. But before he could send the Prophet to the Pentecostals with the Message of the Hour to perfect them, they had again already adulterated. They are divorced and adulterated. They took another seed. They are defiled and have become an abomination before him.

And now they can NEVER be the Bride! He cannot ever take them back.

They cannot and never will be the Bride, even though they think they are. They are the Bride’s Maid, close enough to the Bride to hear the message that the groom whispered in the Bride’s ear, but not close enough to get the Revelation of it. They are the shuck. They look a lot like the seed but are not the seed. They have no life in them. Their job was to protect the seed while the seed matured, then they pulled back from the seed. The wind of the Holy Spirit blew them away from the seed.

THEY HAVE ALL TURNED TO SALT!

Now let us bring it home, preach it where we live. You might say that Lot’s wife does not type the Bride. Indeed you are correct. But Lot and his wife were with Abraham and Sarah. They went out from Abraham and Sarah. The Bible says of those today who separate themselves, who turn away from the Message of the Hour, the Holy Ghost vindicated Gospel Truth of the Revealed Word of God for the Hour, that “they went out from us because they were not of us”.

They were with us. Jude wrote that they “feasted with us”. They were not of us, not Bride. They were Lot’s wife!

The great falling away that we see today, where people are leaving the Message of the Hour, where people are preaching heresies, where they are simply denying the Message and the Lord who sent it like those disbelieve the sign dot com people. They were with us, but they were not of us, and they have gone out from us. Lot’s wife!

If God foreshadowed that to a dot; Lot’s wife, don’t you turn around and look back towards the things of the world. All those types and shadows are perfect. See? Remember Eve. Remember Lot’s wife. Remember Lot himself, you man. Remember, Adam give in to his wife; Lot, the same way.Be careful. I’m just telling you, as a brother. It’s later than you think.

The Final Sign to Noah was the death of Methusaleh. His name literally means “when he dies the flood comes”. When Noah got word that he was dead, it didn’t matter if Noah was ready, he knew that God was ready, and he climbed in the Ark. He recognized his sign!

Bride of Christ, you have received your sign! Get in the Ark!

We have reached a Junction in Time. We are commemorating the New Year here, but in reality we are at the End of the Age! This is the most important Junction in Time for the Bride. Everything that happens after this is good. There is no more danger for us once we cross this one. But while we are here, we are still in danger, we still get sick, we still have trials, we still can die. There are more Junctions in Time, wonderful junctions, but this is the one that sets us free completely.

Lot’s wife has looked back! She missed the fashions, the culture, the music. She missed the society of Sodom. She missed the movies and TV shows, the conversations, the stores and malls, the card parties and celebrations. The fire of God’s wrath burned it all up!

The fire is about to fall today! We are standing before the greatest Junction in Time. The door to God’s grace is closing fast. Do we miss the world? If we love the world or the things of the world then the Love of God is not even in us. That was Lot’s wife and she perished. Don’t be Lot’s wife!

All that is left is the Rapture!

Where do we stand? Are we going forward? Are we looking back? Do we see the Junction in time? The three unclean spirits like frogs are always looking back, and they will never see the Junction in Time until it is passed. You must look forward through the lens of the Message of the Hour to see it. And you must see the Sign, not a future sign, but the Sign for Today.

Matthew 16: 2 He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?

Well, Lot’s wife did the same thing, you know. She set out, to go with Lot, follow her husband, her children, her loved ones, but It wasn’t in her heart. She still loved the world. So it’s possible you can make a start, and still be the world in you. See? She never overcome. And even though she was well on the road, it finally overthrowed her. She had to take that one big, long, last look. There’s where she got caught. Don’t even look back. Don’t have no desires. Keep going. Put your mind on Calvary and keep moving towards Christ. See?

Where do you stand this hour? Do you see the sign of the time? Do you recognize Lot’s wife? Are you born again?

John 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

In other words, “If you do what I ask, then I will do what you ask”

Romans 8: 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

We see three steps here in the new birth. Water, blood and spirit. The New Birth, the Spiritual Birth, is typed by the natural birth.

Are you called? YES! Or you would not be reading this. He called you. The Lord God Jehovah has called you to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the fellowship of the Saints. But many are called, and few are chosen; it all rests on our decisions. God does the calling, but we do the choosing! We choose whether or not to accept him. We choose whether or not to believe his word. You are making the choice right now. You have been called, now choose. Choose wisely!

Acts 2: 38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

That is the first step in Christianity. Without that step, it don’t matter who you are, or what you have done, or what family or country you come from, or who you marry, you are not even on the path. There is a way that seems right unto man, the end thereof is death. There is exactly one path to God, and that is through Christ Jesus; he is the Word, the Bible, Logos, made flesh.

Hebrews 10:4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

Get sanctified! Once justified through repentance and water baptism, we need Sanctification. We need the world washed out of us, completely. Our habits must go. Our bitterness must go. Our dogmas must go. Our traditions must go. Our cultures must go. Our religion must go. Our ambitions must go. All the works of the flesh must be put to death. Crucify your flesh DAILY.

John 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

The world cannot receive him. The world does not know him. The world cannot see him. Jesus said “except ye be born again you cannot see the Kingdom of God”. The Godhead is hidden to the world, hidden to the denominations. Jesus Christ, like any true groom, will only reveal himself to his Bride. He will NEVER reveal himself to a strange woman, especially to a harlot. (Rev 17).

If anything of the world remains in us, we cannot receive the Holy Spirit. All those things we just discussed will prevent the Holy Spirit. Beware the little foxes! The little foxes spoil the vine.

1 John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Light and darkness cannot coexist. Good water and bad cannot come from the same fountain. If we love the world, cosmos, society, fashions, cultures, traditions, nationality, styles, politics, all of the devil, we simply do not love God. Jesus went so far to say that if we don’t hate our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters even our own lives, we are not worthy of him.

Ezekiel 36:23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. 24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. 25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

You and I profaned the name of God in our lives. But he called us. He justified us. Now when he sanctifies us, he is sanctified IN US before the world. Isaiah the prophet, upon seeing the throne of God in heaven cried “I am an unclean man, with unclean lips, living among an unclean people!”. And the Lord sanctified him before the people and sent him forth as a Prophet to the people.

57-0127A – The Impersonation Of Christianity

William Branham

“Yes, watch the order of the Scripture. “I will take away the old stony heart, and I’ll give you a new heart.” That’s the first order. Some of them stop on that first order. Now, that’s… You are—you’re just getting started. Then He said, “I’ll give you a new spirit.” There’s where a lot of you Pentecostals fail. You had to have a new spirit. Oh, you felt good and you felt like that, “Oh, well, I just, oh, I feel fine. I—I—I couldn’t have it.” Well, you just got started. You’re just getting fixed up now to just… You’re just coming in line. He had to give you a new spirit. Why you couldn’t get along with yourself with the old spirit. So how could you get along with God’s Spirit? So He had to give you a new spirit. 36 Now, watch the Bible. “I’ll give you—take the old stony heart away, and give you a heart of flesh, tender-hearted. And then I’ll give you a new spirit. And then, I’ll put My Spirit in you. Now, watch. His Spirit was different from your new spirit. And many people gets the new spirit and think they get the Holy Spirit. They get feeling happy, and jump around, and maybe do a few things religiously. And they think that they got the Holy Spirit. Oh, no, the Holy Spirit makes you act different. The Holy Spirit makes you think different. The Holy Spirit was put right in the middle of your new spirit. And your new spirit was put right in the middle of your new heart. The new heart, the new spirit, in the middle of the new heart, and God said, “I will put My Spirit in you.” Now then, God’s Spirit sets right in the middle of your spirit, your new spirit. And then you don’t have to go out and act like Mrs. Jones does and like Mr. Jones does. There’s just something in you; you just got the love of God so down in you, till you just live it. It isn’t you; it’s something in you. 37 So many people try to put on a Christian face or a Christian front on Sunday. And on Monday you should see the kind of face they got on. But now, that’s impersonation with… They’re nothing in the world in my book, but hypocrites. Exactly. As congressman Upshaw, you all know, was healed in my meetings after he’d been crippled for sixty-six years. He said, “You can’t be nothing that you hain’t.” And that’s right. Be what you are. God grant the day that when the Christian church will be what it’s supposed to be. If you’re for Christ, live for Christ; give your all for Christ. Open up your heart. Don’t think of what the things are around you. Think of what Christ is to you and in you. 38 That new spirit in you, and God’s Holy Spirit setting in the center of your new spirit, is just like the mainspring in a famous watch. As the—the spring in the famous watch, just begins to tick, it makes every organism of the watch work just exactly right; it’s the new spring, the main spring. And the main spring of Christianity is the baptism of the Holy Ghost, not some man-made theology, not some denomination; but it’s the baptism of the Holy Spirit that sets every organ in that church working in order. Something wrong, brethren. That’s right. Just as the Holy Spirit moves and governs His church, every little tick goes just exactly the same, and it fits just exactly in time with the Bible. Everything fits right around the Bible; no matter what the theologian says; the Bible says. It ticks right with that, ’cause if the Holy Spirit that wrote the Bible, come in to tick the Bible off and lay it out, just exactly the way it’s written. Oh, I hope you see that. You see it?”

The Holy Spirit makes you act different. IN every way. We become new creations in Christ Jesus, Literally. We get sick to die, instead of going to man, to the doctors, we go to the Lord in Prayer. We don’t take medicine, we use oil. Nothing against the doctors and medicine, we as Christians just don’t need them; We trust in the Lord. And make no mistake, when the squeeze comes, you will either have to accept the Mark of the Beast, or you will not have access to the doctors.

And if you seriously think you are going to somehow miraculously receive faith then, think again FOOLISH VIRGINS.

That FAITH comes by hearing, by hearing the Word of God, TODAY!

63-0901M – Token
William Branham

“If our hearts condemn us not, then we have our petition, see, we know.” But if sin is in our heart, then it condemns us, we—we just might as well not even start. See? You’ve got to get free from sin. And the only way you can get free from sin is get in Him. That’s the only covering there is for sin, is Christ. 336 Remember, the covenant Blood, the covenant Blood is not recognized without the Token. You cannot. You will not. You say, “Well, I—I been sanctified from things.” That’s not the Token. It’s the Spirit, is the Token, the Spirit of Christ upon you. Believe it! 337 Now, look, the Word assures us of the promise. All these are texts I’ve set down here. Just keep on preaching all day, look like, see, on it. See? The Word assures us of the promise, because It is the promise. The Word is the Promise, and the Word is the God, and the Word is—is ours. And we become the Word, and the Word becomes us. “And if ye abide in Me, and My Word in you,” then, see, it just becomes one great big family. See? It assures us. Because why? Well, it’s part of us. See? See? See, It becomes part of us. What a text! All right. Assures us, the promise. 338 The Token is the sign that the purchase has been made and been accepted. Now, you can’t get the token from the railroad fare until you pay the price; and the only way you’re going to pay the price is pay it. That’s right. What? Believe It. Accept It. Full obedience to the whole Word of God will entitle you to the Token. Full obedience! Not the part of It as far as your denomination goes, but all of It. Full obedience to the Word, which is Christ, brings you into Christ. 339 Now what if you was just all in, but your feet hanging out? What if you was all in, with hands hanging out? Most all of us in, but the heart hanging out? See? See? The heart’s in the world yet? See? But we don’t do that. 340 Full, complete obedience puts you and the Word One. You believe It, every bit. And all of It’s in you, and you watch It working through you.”

Look at Israel at Kadesh Barnea. We will all come to Kadesh Barnea. We will all come to a place with the Word, with the Message, where it is too hard for us. We will eventually come to a place where we either have to crucify our flesh to accept the Word of God, or we will reject the Word of God and die in the spirit. And we won’t even know it! Spiritual death is a silent death. Darkness slips in to our hearts, and the light goes away, and we become spiritually blind, and don’t know it.

For some it might be hair, that the Bible forbids women to cut it and forbids men not to. Or it might be that the Bible forbids cross dressing – saying that it is an abomination unto the Lord God for a woman to wear pants for example. Or it might be the godhead. Or proper baptism. Any number of things, and different for each. But we will ALL come to Kadesh in our walks before receiving the Holy Spirit.

Revelation 3: 17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.

They don’t even know it! Blind! Wretched! Naked! Miserable! And don’t know it. That is the church today! Can you imagine if you were physically naked, blind, miserable, wretched sitting in your chair and had lost your mind to the point where you did not even know it? That is the spiritual state of the churches today. The god of this world had blinded their eyes to it.

2 Timothy 2:1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

This is not the world he is addressing. This is the church! They have preachers! But they have rejected sound doctrine, rejected the Revealed Word of God for the hour, rejected the Elijah Ministry of Malachi 4:5-6, Rejected the Seventh Angel, rejected Christ. They have rejected the Holy Spirit and taken on a form of godliness.

Naaman came to Elisha. He was told to dunk himself seven times in the Jordan. Not the Nile, not a pond, not an ocean. not a swimming pool, the Jordan. E was told to dunk Seven times, not six and not eight. After the 6th dunk he had leprosy. After the Seventh, he was perfectly healed and restored. Had he gone for eight, that leprosy would have returned and he would have died of it.

He did exactly what the Word of God told him to do, and the Word of God did exactly as he asked!

FULL OBEDIENCE TO THE WORD OF GOD ENTITLES YOU TO THE TOKEN!

Peter, filled with the holy spirit gave us the exact prescription for Christian baptism, repentance with full immersion in the name of Jesus Christ. Apollos, a man that the Bible called a mighty preacher, a believer turning souls to Christ, convincing the world that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, had to be rebaptized in Peter’s prescription to the letter to receive the Holy Spirit.

God refused to fill him until he was in FULL OBEDIENCE.

The Lord God has to either hold us to that exact same standard, or he is a hypocrite and a liar.

FULL OBEDIENCE TO THE WORD OF GOD ENTITLES YOU TO THE TOKEN!

Jesus gave us the prescription for the Lord’s supper. Unleaven bread, Kosher wine, foot washing. Paul went on to give us a more complete picture. In that he said if we take it unworthily, we eat and drink DAMNATION unto ourselves. If full obedience is required for the Token, and anything less than FULL OBEDIENCE disqualifies us, then how about rejecting the Word?

DAMNATION!

Full Obedience means complete, unfailing obedience to the FULL REVEALED WORD OF GOD!

James 2: 10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

FULL OBEDIENCE TO THE FULL WORD OF GOD ENTITLES YOU TO THE TOKEN!

Galatians 1: 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

The written Word of God, the Spoken Message of the Hour, is NOT to be messed with, not to be changed, not to be interpreted.

2 Peter 1: 20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

The moment we interpret the Word or the Message, we are bending it to the desires of our flesh. That is exactly what the devil did in the Garden of Eden. That is the very sin that caused every sickness, every disease, every pain, every worry, every tear, every death of all mankind. It brought the flood upon the world. It is about to bring FIRE upon this world!

FULL OBEDIENCE TO THE FULL WORD OF GOD ENTITLES YOU TO THE TOKEN!

Look at Gideon! When the angel appeared to him his question was, “if God is with us, where are the signs and wonders?”

Where are the Signs and Wonders Today? Where are the Gifts? Where are the healings? Where are the miracles? Where are the visions? Where are the tongues and interpretations? Where are the Prophecies?

God’s Church today is the same as God’s Church 2000 years ago. Jesus Christ the same yesterday today and forever. He is the same.

The Church today, the Bride of Christ, will exactly resemble the Church in the Book of Acts, or they are NOT the Church of the Living God!

They are impersonations of Christianity. Make believers. Wolves in sheep clothing. Cold, dead, formalized twofold children of hell.

Revelation 18: 4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

FULL OBEDIENCE TO THE FULL REVEALED WORD OF GOD ENTITLES YOU TO THE TOKEN!

THEN, ask what you will in my name believing and I will do it.

If our hearts condemn us, then we are not in full obedience. If we feel condemned when hearing the Word of God, if we feel uncomfortable around the Bride, around those filled with the Holy Spirit, If your heart condemns you, if you find yourself skipping the Lord’s Supper,

GO FIX IT!

Are you Justified through repentance and baptism in full immersion in water in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ? That is the first step because without that, none of it matters. Period.

FIX THAT FIRST! Get the Heart of Flesh! TODAY!

Then, are you sanctified.

Matthew 7: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

If we try to bring anything besides the Word of God we will not fit. The gate is strait, and nothing crooked will enter in.

Are you clean from the world, from traditions, from cultures, from society, from fashions, from sports, from nationalism, from religion and denominationalism? Get sanctified because if there is even one thing of the world left in you, the Holy God will never enter.

FIX IT! TODAY!

Romans 8: 9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

Then press forward to be filled. Get filled. Get refilled. A double portion. Without the filling of the Spirit, no matter what we have done, who we are, we do not belong to Christ. Without the Holy Spirit, we are not yet Christians. We are still born! That is the problem in the Message, too many foolish virgins, had an emotional time, went to a revival and stole a lick of fire from somebody else’s flame but have no oil to sustain it.

Get Justified!

Get Sanctified!

GET FILLED!

FIX IT! TODAY!

Are you filled? Great! Wonderful! Congratulations!

Are you grieving the Holy Spirit? Are you backslidden? Are you prayed up? Have you read the Bible today, this week, this month? Do you know where your Bible is? If you have to check the index of your Bible to find the where the various books are in it when we read them here, you simply ain’t familiar enough with it. Are you listening to tapes? Or are you getting lukewarm?

FIX IT! TODAY!

Hebrews 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Yes this applies to attending Church, but not only Church. Who is your best friend? Is he/she in the Message? Are they living the Word? When you are out with your friends and you see someone from church, do you get uncomfortable? Afraid of what they might say? Afraid of what they may see or hear?

If we are in full obedience to the word then we are living Christ everywhere. Worldy friends won’t hang around for long. They will be embarrassed to be seen with you. They won’t like the things you have to say. You sit down at a restaurant, at Tim Horton’s, you bow your head and ask the blessing on your donuts in a loud voice. They won’t hang for long. But Christians will.

Fellowship with Christians. Don’t forsake the assembling of yourselves together. If you are with the world, testify to them until they either leave or receive. But don’t let them bring you into their world; that is death. Make your fellowship among the Bride of Christ.

Habakkuk 2: 20 But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.

The Lord: That is who, Him and no other.

Is In: That is where he dwells. That is the only place He will dwell.

His: Ownership. It belongs to Him alone.

Holy: God is holy and cannot dwell in an unholy place.

Temple: So what is God’s Temple?

Is it this church? Is it the Vatican? Is it the Temple Mount? Is it Heaven?

Acts 7: 48 Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet 49 Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?

What is his temple?

Logos was God’s first temple.

Jesus was Logos.

John 1: 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…..14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

The prophet on 80 different occasions said “God is in his Word”. Logos is the full expression of the Lord God towards us. All his thoughts and desires concerning humanity, all his creation, all his mercy, all his healing, all his deliverance, all his resurrection, all his righteousness, was expressed in his Word, Logos.

The Lord is in Logos. In Logos dwelt the fullness of the godhead, Spiritual. Logos was not some mist, some vapour; Logos is the Theophany of God. That is the Body that walked with Adam and Eve in Eden in the cool of the day. That was the body that Moses saw when he said that he looked like the back of a man. The fullness of the Lord God Elohim, Jehovah, manifested in the Theophany of Logos, the Revealed Word of God.

Malachi 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.

Did you ever wonder when this scripture, this prophesy, was truly fulfilled?

Matthew 3: 16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:

Jesus Christ is the Word of God, Logos, made flesh. In him then dwelt the fullness of the godhead bodily. This is where the Holy Spirit became one with the flesh of the man Jesus Christ. This is where Jesus as the only begotten child of God received the adoption to be the only begotten Son of God. He became the complete and total representation and manifestation of God in the form of human flesh.

Matthew 17: 5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

Jesus Christ is the Temple of God, and in him dwells the fullness of God. God is in his Holy Temple. God is in his Word. God is in Logos. God is in the Lord Jesus Christ.

John 2: 19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21 But he spake of the temple of his body.

Jesus Christ is the Holy Temple of God! It is not the building. It is not the organization. It is not in a creed or dogma. It is not a doctrine. God is in his Holy Temple. God is in his Word!

Who are we? Where do we fit in?

Ephesians 2: 6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

This is not figurative or symbolic. We were raised up. We are made to sit together, all of us, as one, IN heavenly places IN Christ Jesus. We are in Logos. Adam’s Bride was taken out from his side, but the Bride of Christ isn’t take out, she is called IN to Jesus, through his side. When his side was pierced, out came water blood and spirit. As we enter IN to Christ, we do so in that order, through water, then blood, then spirit. We will look closer in a few minutes.

God, knowing the end from the beginning, when he spoke his fullness into the Word, he spoke your name and my name. The full manifestation of the Lord God and his complete plan of salvation, including the identity of every single one of his predestinated seed, the Born Again Christians, the Bride of Christ, was spoken at that time. You were in Logos before the very first sub-atomic particle was created.

You and I were IN Christ Jesus, Logos, the Word of God, from before the beginning of all time!

Deuteronomy 16: 6 But at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt.

WHERE IS GOD’S CHOSEN PLACE OF WORSHIP? William Branham 1965

QUOTE: “But there’s one PLACE I can take you to, where you’re safe and protected from death, that’s in JESUS CHRIST, God’s PLACE of worship. That’s the PLACE I’m introducing to you, tonight, where God put His NAME. Where He promised He would MEET every person that come in there, He would worship with Him and feast with Him, that’s in Christ; not in NO church, no tabernacle.

But He said, “I’ll choose the PLACE to put My Name.” And the NAME was JESUS. And Jesus is the Word, Saint John 1. Is that right? That’s the PLACE of worship, in Christ the Word. God chose the place; not in NO church denomination, but in Jesus Christ. Yes, sir.

Now, that’s why, we, “All we DO in word or in deed, we do it in the NAME of Jesus Christ.” “There is NOT another NAME given under Heaven for salvation, but the Name of Jesus Christ.” There’s not another name given under Heaven whereby a man must be saved, only in the Name of Jesus Christ.” Amen. I hope you get it. The Name of Jesus Christ. Highest Heaven is named Him, “All the family in Heaven is named Jesus,” the Bible said, “and all the family on earth is named Jesus.” So that’s God’s chosen Name and where He has put It. That’s His place of worship, is in Jesus Christ. Now, we know that to be so, no other place to worship but in Him.”

Every denomination will quote that “all we do in word and deed we must do in His Name”, and then in the same breath refuse to baptize in His Name. God cannot recognize you if you do not come according to his word.

John 4: 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him MUST worship him in spirit and in truth.

God is Spirit. God’s Word is Truth. God’s Spirit is in God’s Word! There are not three gods, or three persons. There is ONE God, ONE person, the Lord Jesus Christ, in three offices. God the Father above us. God the Son with us. God the Holy Spirit in us. Three manifestations of the self same God. The Lord is in his Holy Temple, and that temple is the Word of God. To worship God we “MUST” do so in the Temple, IN Spirit and IN Truth. Without that Temple, our prayers cannot be heard.

No denomination. No organization. No creeds. No religions. In Spirit and IN Truth. God is in his holy temple!

We have to meet him there or we will not meet him at all!

If you were not in the Ark, you were lost. If you were not under the Passover lamb blood, you were lost. If you are not IN Christ Jesus, the Holy Temple of God, YOU ARE LOST.

James 2: 7 Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?

Oh it goes deeper!

What name are you called by? Your old name is GONE. You have a new name. Just as Jacob became Israel, as Abram became Abraham, when you meet God, he changes your name. You are now called by the name of Jesus Christ! As we just read the Prophet said “Christ Jesus is God’s Place of Worship”. He is in his Holy Temple! He has placed his Name on you.

1 John 5: 20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

There is no other God before him. He is all in all. The True God and Eternal Life. Here is where we fit in.

1 Corinthians 6: 19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

YOU are God’s temple. When the Spirit of God quickens His Word IN you, then you become the Temple of God and he indwells you. God is in His Holy Temple.

His Temple. Ownership! He purchased you with his own blood. He dwells in his temple, in the Born Again Christian. He does not dwell in organizations, or churches, or religions. We read in Revelation that he is outside knocking at the door of the heart. He wants to make us his temple. He wants to dwell in us.

1 Corinthians 3: 16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

You and I are God’s temple. If we defile that temple, we will be destroyed. Take that as a stern warning. As we heard on Sunday it would be better for us never to be born or have a stone tied around our necks and be cast into the sea than to offend God’s Temple.

You are God’s Temple and he is in his holy temple.

Hebrews 9: 1Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. 2 For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary. 3 And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; 4 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; 5 And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat; of which we cannot now speak particularly. 6 Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. 7 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: 8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: 9 Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; 10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. 11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;

There are three Courts in the Temple. Outer, Inner, Holiest of Holies. As God’s Temples, we too are trinary. We have three distinct parts, three separate states.

Body, Spirit, Soul.

Justification, Sanctification, Glorification.

Glorify?

John 17: 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

There are five out court experiences. 1)Sight, 2)Hearing, 3)Taste, 4)Touch, 5)Smell. These are outer court experiences. They will fool you. Anyone can receive them. You get a sensation. Could be a pinched nerve. You raise your hands. You shout. Physical. Outer Court. Shake hands with the preacher. Take a vow. Make a confession. Outer. Physical. CARNAL!

There are five inner court experiences. 1)Imagination, 2)Memory, 3)Affection, 4)Consciousness, 5)Reasoning. These are Inner Court Experiences. The devil can trick you with these so easily because most people cannot recognize that these things are NOT in the Holiest of Holies. This is how Eve got tricked in Eden Satan came to her with an Outer Court Experience that led her to an Inner Court Experience. Reasoning. Emotions. Emotions are strong and most people think the emotion is God. You get that at ball games. You get excited. You cry. You laugh. Emotions. We need them, but they can fool us. We can cry at a sad movie, the movie is a lie, the story never happened, the people are just actors. It is an Inner Court Experience, it FEELS real, but it is a lie. CARNAL!

FAITH: Holiest of Holies! That is where the Lord God is. That is where the altar is. That is where the shew bread is. That is where the Word is! That is where the Holy Spirit is. Until we enter there we will never have an experience with the Living God. To get in there, we must be HOLY. We must be sanctified. We must be justified. We must be HOLY.

The physical won’t get you into the inner court. We can get justified and stop, not go forward. Foolish virgins. Bride material. Sinless. Burning lamp, but no oil.

The emotional, the mental, the sanctification, will not get you into the Holiest of Holies. We can be sanctified and stop there. Foolish virgins again. Bright lamp again, but no oil. They will be left behind at the rapture. They are very good people, Church folks. They will give you the shirt off their backs and feed you their last meal. They are kind, they are justified, they are sanctified, but not Holy.

The only thing that can enter the Holiest of Holies, the Altar of the Heart, is FAITH. That is why we can have the baptism of the Holy Ghost without sensation. It is not an outer court experience. It is not an inner court experience. It is a Holiest of Holies experience. It is a FAITH experience.

I can preach you into the Outer Court. I can even preach you into the Inner Court. But to enter the Holiest of Holies, I can only show you the way, you will have to go in there alone. Straight is the gate, and narrow is the way that leads to life and few there be that will find it. It is so narrow only one can enter at a time and we cannot bring anything along. Our creeds, our denominations, our dogmas, our traditions, our cultures will all prevent entry. There is no room in there for them. We have to go by and with Faith alone.

God has provided a way, and there is NO other way to come to him. We must come through the outer court, then come through the inner court, then enter the Holiest of Holies. There is no other way. Jesus said that he is the door and anyone who attempts a different way is a thief and a liar. A robber, robbing God!

Jesus is the Word of God, Logos made flesh. The Bible is Logos, Jesus Christ, in print form. The Bible in Acts 2: 38-39 gives us God’s provided way. That is the one and only method that the Lord God recognizes for baptism. There is NO other way. Get baptized in titles, you will get an outer court experience, and an inner court experience, emotion. But that way will lead you around in circles and NEVER bring you to the door. Never bring you to Christ because it is not God’s provided way. It is the same if we are baptized with sprinkling. It is only through God’s provided way, through strict obedience to the Bible, through the proper Christian baptism, that we can come to the door.

Too many people are walking in circles in the Inner Court, and in the Outer Court, and never coming to the knowledge of Christ. They are like Israel in the wilderness. They rejected God’s provided way at Kadesh Barnea and wandered around. They had the Word. They had signs and wonders. They did not have Christ! So to today. Come God’s provided way!

Faith, the sixth sense. This is literally the one and only channel to reach God. It is God’s provided way. That is why we can only worship God in his Temple, in the Holiest of Holies. That is the place where FAITH resides. God is IN his HOLY temple.

It does not matter how well we sing, our songs will not reach heaven if we do not have the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Neither will our prayers. In fact the Bible goes so far as to say that none of us even know how to pray and that the Holy Spirit speaks for us when we pray, the Voice behind the Voice, to make intercession for us.

If we do not have the Holy Spirit, it says in Romans, we are not even Christians.

Do you see it?

He is not in his JUSTIFIED Temple!

He is not in his SANCTIFIED Temple!

They are both empty.

THE LORD GOD IS ONLY IN HIS HOLY TEMPLE!

We have to go through the outer court to get to the inner court. The three courts are concentric. There is no shortcut. How can we be sanctified as sinners? We need remission of sins first! We need to be washed. Justification comes before Sanctification. Repent and be baptized, that was the order of the day. Peter did not tell them to get sanctified. He told them to get justified first. Get under the blood.

We have to go through the inner court to get to the Holiest of Holies. God cannot dwell in an unclean vessel. We need to be sinless. We need to be Sanctified, set apart for service. Delivered and proven.

John 14: 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

There are NO shortcuts. We need to be justified before we can ever get sanctified. We need to be Sanctified before we can ever be filled. That is one of the reasons we have so many foolish virgins. They try to skip a step.

It will never work. God’s temple is complete!

The Holiest of Holies. This is where the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat. We just read that.

Do NOT Defile the temple of God.

Matthew 15: 18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

We worship God with our mouths and bless the Lord Jesus Christ, then turn around and curse man that is made in the likeness and image of God. When we deny God’s word, we defile our temple. God’s word says we are healed, yet we will confess that we are sick. LIES! Contrary to his Word. Defiling us.

Get hold of your tongue!

2 Corinthians 6: 14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. 18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

No yoke. This is not only marriage. It is especially marriage, but not only. Here are a couple of more common yokes that the Word of God forbids.

Don’t get yoked in business.

Don’t get yoked in activities.

Don’t get yoked in a church.

Don’t yoke yourself in politics.

Don’t yoke yourself in traditions.

Don’t yoke yourselves in cultures.

Colossians 2: 21 (Touch not; taste not; handle not; 22 Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? 23 Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body: not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.

All those things are carnal, worldly, fleshly. Get rid of it. They will keep you out of the Holiest of Holies. They will stand between you and God’s HOLY Temple. We need to enter the HOLY Temple.

We need to become the Lord’s Holy Temple!

1 Thessalonians 5:21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.

Not only do we need to abstain from that which is evil, but the very appearance of it. It will destroy your testimony. It will defile your temple. It will keep you a foolish virgin. Lot had no testimony in Sodom because his testimony had been defiled.

2 Timothy 2: 19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

Iniquity will bring death. Doing stuff that you know better is iniquity. Also not doing things that you know you must is iniquity. All who name the name of Jesus Christ. That name is God’s name. That is where he placed his name, in his HOLY Temple. Depart from everything remotely evil. If you are unsure, get rid of it.

Now it gets really good. Here is the desert.

Revelation 22: 9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. 10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

The Bride is the Holy City! You and I are the Holy City! We descend. And people say there is no rapture. How did we get up there to descend if there is no rapture? The Bride! YOU!

Oh it gets even better.

Revelation 22: 22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. 23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. 24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. 25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. 26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. 27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

There is no need of a temple because God is in his Holy Temple. The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple. God is still in his Word. He is still in LOGOS. He never left it! That was his first and ONLY Temple. We become his Temple because Logos dwells in us. He was in Logos in the beginning. He is in Logos now. He will be in Logos for all eternity! He is in His Holy Temple!

And to bring that home:

Daniel 9: 18 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. 19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.

[Notes from the Sermon “Recognizing the Voice” preached by Brother Paul Brake on Wednesday June 28th at Restored Word Fellowship in Edmonton.]

Revelation 10: 7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

Notice that it does not say the day of the prophet. It does not say the day of the ministry. It does not say the day of the man. It says specifically the “days of the VOICE”.

Why a Voice? What is the significance of the Voice? Which Voice?

Remember a word is a thought express. So the root of every word is a thought. Thoughts do not come from the mind, they have a root in your heart.

Psalm 33: 11 The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

Even God’s Word originates in God’s heart. The voice you hear with your ear from the speaker in the room is a manifestation of the Voice Spoken. You do not hear my voice right now, you hear the Voice of the speakers. They are a dumb box, lifeless, with no will of their own. The only voice they can muster is squealing, feedback and static. It is all mindless noise. They have another voice, but that is not their own voice. It is the manifestation of My Voice.

So too, when you hear my voice from my mouth, you are hearing a manifestation of the voice spoken first in my heart. Then in my mind. Finally, in my mouth. But where did the voice in my heart come from? It came from the Spirit that is within me. If I am filled with the Holy Spirit, then it came from him. If I am possessed of a devil, then it came from him. We are all possessed, by the Spirit of God, or the spirit of the world, satan.

There is a Voice within the Voice, within every Voice.

Matthew 4: 5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple 6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone 7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

I want you to notice something here. There are two distinct voices, the voice of Satan, and the Voice of Jesus. Notice too that they are both speaking the Word of God. Satan was quoting Psalm 91 perfectly.

Psalm 91: 12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

What a strange thing. Here the devil himself is quoting the Prophet, speaking the Revealed Word of God for the hour. He is quoting exactly as it was written. Here there is an audible voice, and that voice is speaking the Word of God, yet that voice is the devil, and had Jesus listened to it, he would have been finished.

Do you see it? There is a preacher, quoting the Word of God, and to listen to that preacher preach the Word of God would bring DEATH, a death so terrible it would have killed every human being.

We need to go deeper to understand how the Word of God, the Word of life, can kill. It can’t really, it is life. It all depends on the Voice!

1 Chronicles 13: 7 And they carried the ark of God in a new cart out of the house of Abinadab: and Uzza and Ahio drave the cart.8 And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets.9 And when they came unto the threshingfloor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled.10 And the anger of theLordwas kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died before God.

Uzza was a righteous man. He was an Israelite. He was circumcised. But he was not called to handle the Word of God. The Ark was to be carried by the Levites. Uzza, a righteous man, was not qualified and even thought he was handling the pure Word of God, doing so brought death.

Now what can we say of the denominations of our day? The modern Ox Carts. The Modern Uzzas. The pulpits are full of Uzzas today. The Message Pulpits! Uzza was an Israelite, a Christian. He was Righteous, Justified. He was circumcised, Sanctified. To the people of Israel he was qualified, the most qualified or they would never have chosen him.

We have that today. We have men, just men, baptized in full immersion in water in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, sanctified, living consecrated lives for Christ, but not called to the pulpit. The Five Fold Ministry is a calling. And these men, eloquent speakers, humble brothers, knowledgeable in doctrine, loved of all, get voted into the pulpits. They preach because they are good speakers. But God did not call them to it. They are outside of his Perfect Will, swimming in the pools of his permissive will. They have the wrong voice.

But not to the Lord God! He was rejected! He was not called for it. He was disqualified by his birth. Had the Lord intended for him to handle the Word, he would have been born a Levite. That is predestination at its finest. The pulpits today are full of Uzzas, men chosen by men, righteous men, good men, but not chosen by God. They have the wrong Voice!

How many women preachers are today in the denominations? Smart women, highly educated. Bible schools, Theology Seminary training, PhD in theology etc. Yet they are not the Voice chosen by God. Had the Lord God intended for them to handle the Word of God, by predestination, they would have been born men. God cannot fail. Those women are not fulfilling all righteousness. The Word of God strictly forbids them, yet there they are anyway, standing in the Pulpit preaching. They can preach the word perfectly as Satan did, and their Voice will bring DEATH!

DEATH! Preaching the Word of God and preaching DEATH to the people, and they don’t even know it. That is the picture of today.

And why did they carry the Ark that way in the first place?

1 Chronicles 13: 1And David consulted with the captains of thousands and hundreds, and with every leader. 2 And David said unto all the congregation of Israel, If it seem good unto you, and that it be of theLordour God, let us send abroad unto our brethren every where, that are left in all the land of Israel, and with them also to the priests and Levites which are in their cities and suburbs, that they may gather themselves unto us: 3 And let us bring again the ark of our God to us: for we enquired not at it in the days of Saul. 4 And all the congregation said that they would do so: for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.

David listened to every voice in the country except the Voice that the Lord God had chosen, the Voice of the Prophet. Do we listen to the Voice of the Prophet today? Do we listen to the Voice behind the Voice of the Prophet today? That, as mister Shakespeare so eloquently phrased it, is the rub.

How can a Voice matter? Two Voices can speak the very same words, one brings life, the other brings death. Jesus and Satan both quoting the Word; to listen to Jesus was life, to Satan was death. Same thing today!

Here is another example.

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Notice here that he came quoting the Word. He was not denying the Word. He was not dismissing the Word. He was preaching it! He was preaching the Word of God to Eve just as Adam preached it. But it was death!

When Adam brought that Word to Eve, it brought life. Now here is another voice preaching the self same Word, quoting the prophet Adam, and it was death. The Voice behind the voice was different.

Acts 19: 13 Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of theLordJesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

This is my general criticism of Quote Preachers. Nothing wrong with a quote. The problem arises when we don’t get the revelation and simply hide behind a quote and a fake Kentucky accent. The Vagabonds preached Jesus whom Paul Preaches. How many today are preaching Jesus whom Branham preached in the exact same way?

Quoting the Scriptures as Satan did. Quoting the Prophet as the Vagabonds did. But the Wrong VOICE! And it brings death. Yet when Aquila and Priscilla quoted Paul, it brought life to Apollos.

We have men in the pulpits today reading from the Bible, quoting from the Prophet, and bringing death because they are speaking with the wrong Voice!

It is not the physical Voice you hear that is so important. If it was then God would only choose great orators to be preachers. It is the Voice behind the Voice! The words we hear, the voice of the man is the manifestation of the Voice of the Spirit IN the Man.

The physical words you hear are no different than physical words you read. That is why the Bible says the letter killeth but the Spirit brings life. Except that Holy Spirit of God quickens the Word to your heart, it will only condemn you.

If we don’t have the right inner Voice, then our outer Voice will simply be speaking the letter; the letter of the Word of God, the letter of the Message of the Hour, and the letter killeth. It kills because the Voice is wrong!

The physical voice we hear is an Outer Court Experience. Satan moves around freely in the Outer Court. And when it causes our emotions to stir, as you see among the Evangelicals and Pentecostals, and now in the Message, it is simply an Inner Court Experience. God is NOT in them.

God is in his Holy Temple. He is not in the letter, God is in his Word, Logos!

And then when we stand at the judgment seat of Christ, we will say we did this and that in your name. He will say I never knew you, and I don’t know you now. Get away from me you workers of iniquity. You stood there and quoted from my word to someone, then turned around and lived the opposite. You demanded that another follow me and refused to follow yourself. I never knew you. I was never in you. You never came through the outer court, through the inner court, to meet Me in the Holiest of Holies.

WE NEVER MET!

I do not know you!

May the Lord God in Heaven have mercy and grace upon us tonight that it would never be mentioned once among us. Let us follow the Lord and his prescription for Receiving his Holy Spirit.

A woman preacher, for example, can stand at the pulpit, orate a beautiful, intelligent, logical lecture from the letter, that will make you cry, shout, sing, jump up and down, run around. It will make perfect sense to the carnal mind. She can be 100% accurate in every word she speaks, but still be the wrong Voice and bring death to the listener. She can give you a great outer court experience that will lead to a great inner court experience. To the carnal man, they will think they had an experience with God. They got sensations! They got emotions! But they received death!

God cannot be in that, and he is not. For the Lord to bless it he would become a liar and a hypocrite because he clearly stated in his word. If the woman was filled with the Holy Spirit, then that Holy Spirit inside her would never allow her to act totally contrary to the Revealed Word of God for the hour.

1 Timothy 2: 12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

He said NO. Period. End of Story. Full stop. Yet they do it. Having a form of godliness and denying the very power thereof. See, she could quote the letter of the Bible perfectly. She could even quote from a message book perfectly, getting all the “ums” and “ahs” in the right place, getting the Kentucky accent perfect. But in the end, it is the wrong Voice. It is a Voice of Death and to listen to it is DEATH!

We have had “message preachers”, who have sat in the pulpits for years, preaching to the people, only to turn and call the Prophet a devil and say the message that the Lord God vindicated is a lie. Did they bring life to anyone in their preaching? What experience do those people have? Think about it. Those people thought they were being saved. They thought that a godly, Holy Ghost filled man, called of God, was speaking to them. They did not have the discernment to know better. They could not discern the inner voice.

Some of these guys preached for decades without being noticed. They didn’t turn bad, they were always bad. They were wolves in sheep clothing making merchandise of you the whole time, fleecing the people and feeding on them. And the people did not know. What experience do those people have? Where do they stand? How and why did they miss it?

How did these guys hide for so long? Did you ever wonder that? They hid behind quotes. They quoted so perfectly that people only listened to the voice that was speaking, not to the voice behind the voice. They did not realize that the human voice was empty and devoid of holiness.

Uzza was a righteous man, but when he tried to handle the Word of God, being the wrong voice for the day, it brought DEATH. Today it will bring Spiritual Death. Your heart won’t stop beating, it will just get closed off so that the Word of God, the Spirit of God, Logos, will not be able to enter it. It will defile your Temple. All who defile the Temple of God, the Lord God will destroy.

Hebrews 3: 7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

Today if you will hear His Voice. As the Holy Ghost saith. Not as a man says, but as the Holy Ghost says. The Holy Spirit has to be the Voice behind the Voice. We don’t hear the Voice of a man, we must hear the Voice behind the Voice. When the Holy Spirit moves a man to speak, it is not his voice speaking. Just as the speaker is only an audible manifestation of my voice, so too is the man sent by God only an audible manifestation of the Voice of God speaking inside of him.

That is why it is not heresy for them to use the name Voice of God recordings. It is not the Voice of the Prophet that the Bride hears, it is the Voice of God IN the prophet! That is why the people are so confused, why the world cannot understand it. They are just listening to the man, and missing the VOICE behind the voice.

Do you hear HIS VOICE tonight?

Or are you just hearing mine?

John 10: 27 My sheep hear MY VOICE, and I know them, and they follow me:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

You are not my sheep, you are not Brother Branham’s sheep, you are not Peter’s sheep or Paul’s sheep, or Luther’s sheep. You are HIS SHEEP. You are the sheep of the Great Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ. That is why the Bride hears HIS VOICE. The Bride are the only ones who can hear the Voice behind the Voice!

Let me say that again so it is perfectly clear.

The Bride are the only ones who can hear the Voice behind the Voice!

Mark 4: 11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.

Unto you it is given to hear the Voice behind the Voice. If you name was written in the Lamb’s Book of Life before the foundation of the world then you are called to hear His Voice, and you will hear it. To the rest of the world, it is a riddle. The Bride does not hear the speaker tonight. The Bride does not hear me tonight.

THE BRIDE HEARS ONLY HIM!

The world hears only me.

The Bride hears Jesus Christ speak through every word that comes out of my mouth, by REVELATION. The world only hears the inane ramblings of an old Newfie.

The Bride of the Lord Jesus Christ, by revelation, hears the voice of Holy Spirit speaking through the Revealed Word of God. The world hears an uneducated, stammering, Kentucky hillbilly. That is why they can’t receive the message, why they could not receive Jesus Christ. That is why they can never receive the truth, the Voice of the truth is always hidden behind the voice of an ordinary man.

The Lord hid his Voice in the stammering, stuttering voice of Moses. The Lord God hid his Voice in the voice of a homeless, penniless, uneducated bum named John the Baptist. The Lord God hid his Voice in a farmer name Amos. The Lord hid his Voice in an ignorant and unlearned fisherman name Peter. The list goes on but does not change in nature.

1 Corinthians 1: 21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

And without revelation we will never discern the difference.

Luke 10: 22 All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.

We cannot even know who the Lord God is without revelation. How can we say we worship the Lord God if we don’t even know who and what he is? How can we listen to His Voice, if we cannot recognize His Voice? We will be fooled! We will hear a good lecture, a logical argument, earthly wisdom brought with eloquence of speech, and be fooled. We will hear the voice of a man, but completely miss the Voice of God.

John 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

And we have pulpits today full of them. The cannot hear the Voice, yet invade the pulpits all over the world with their own voice.

Romans 16: 17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them 18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

Good words and fair speeches from the wrong voice will lead us straight to hell. They don’t serve the Lord. They cannot. They don’t even know who he is. They have no relationship with him. He is not their Lord.

How can we worship God if we don’t even know who and what he is, if we do not understand and have the revelation of the Godhead?

John 5: 43 I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.

The Prophet came in the name of the Lord giving all glory and honour to him, and the people rejected both him and his message. Yet those that come in their own names, in blasphemous names, they are celebrated. They get Maga-Churches.

But they don’t realize, those mega-churches and the denominations and the World Council of Churches are binding the tares for the fires of hell. But the Lord is collecting his wheat into the garner.

It’s Harvest Time!

1 Corinthians 12: 3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

The term “Lord” implies relationship. A Lord is a ruler. If you have a Lord, then you are the servant of that Lord. This scripture means more than what is on the surface. There is a Voice behind the Voice. To see it we have to go back to Genesis.

Genesis 1: 1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

This goes on for some time. And God said, and God said. But then we see something interesting happen.

Genesis 2: 4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that theLordGod made the earth and the heavens,5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for theLordGod had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.7 And theLordGod formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.8 And theLordGod planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

The whole of creation has him being referred to simply as God. But once the Bible starts speaking of man in the garden, in the flesh, he suddenly is called the LORD God. A relationship has been established.

Now watch! First time I was shown this I just about jumped out of my skin.

Genesis 3: 1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

The serpent had NO relationship. To him Elohim was not LORD, he was simply God. “God said”. But watch. Eve also refered to him simply as “God”. In the 3 verse, quoting the Prophet, she stepped out of fellowship and called him simply “God”, not the “Lord God”. At that point the serpent had her and she fell.

Romans 8: 9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

NONE OF HIS! No relationship! Without the filling of the Holy Spirit, we simply cannot call him our Lord without his Holy Spirit. We can say he is God, but NOT the LORD GOD! We can say “Lord, Lord” but he will say “I never knew you”. Without the New Birth in its fulness, we cannot call Jesus Christ Lord, because he is NOT our Lord. And if he is not our Lord, we will not hear his Voice.

We might hear the voice of the preacher, the voice of the prophet, but not the Voice of the Spirit. It could lead us to Christ, but it won’t be Christ until we receive the Spirit of Christ. The preacher can lead you into the outer court, and into the inner court, but the Holiest of Holies is a place that you must enter alone. Straight is the gate, and narrow is the way that leads to life and few there be that find it. It is so narrow only one can enter at a time. Then when we hear the voice of the preacher, the voice of the prophet, the Voice of the Holy Spirit inside us will quicken that word which we hear in our ears.

I want an old fashioned prayer meeting. What was that like you ask?

Acts 4: 24 And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:25 Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,30 By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

When they prayed the whole earth shook! That ain’t going to happen from mumbling. That won’t come with whispering. That will never happen if we quench the Spirit. We have to be free.

They Lifted Up Their Voice Towards God! It was ONE VOICE! They all prayed. They all shouted. They all cried out at the top of their lungs. But it was ONE VOICE that got lifted up to the Lord God.

It was the VOICE WITHIN THE VOICE!

Romans 8: 26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

When we lift our Voices towards Heaven, the Holy Spirit in us will Lift HIS VOICE! The Voice in the Voice will pray for us. The Voice in the Voice that searches our hearts and knows the mind of the Spirit, for the Voice is of the Spirit! If we are not filled with the Holy Spirit, then that VOICE cannot be lifted up to Heaven. All we have is our own Voice, and the Bible says, All Men are Liars. Without the Holy Spirit, our prayers are lying to God.

Knowledge

Isaiah 5: 11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink: that continue until night, till wine inflame them! 12 And the harp, and the viol, the babret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the lord, neither consider the operation of his hands. 13 Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. 14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.

Knowledge, the Center of Our Walk

What a word this is! I was hoping for a shorter word for this evening but you could preach a decade on this. It is hard to know where to start but I am going to try to keep it short. There are so many ideas here. But I see the central theme for us this evening as being the 13th verse. “Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.”

My People!

Notice here that God does not say the people, but “MY people” are gone into captivity. MY people! Not the world, not the denominations, not muslims or hindus, MY PEOPLE! The people of God, the church, the called out ones, are gone into captivity. We are supposed to be free. Jesus said the truth shall set us free. We have the word, and we have the message and yet Isaiah says we are being taken captive. How can this be? How can the church of the living God be taken captive in this day when we have the greatest light that has ever been? For the first time in history we not only have the entire Bible, but we have the entire Bible revealed. Even the Apostles didn’t have it. Luther didn’t have it. Wesley didn’t have it but we have it and today we also have captivity.

You might bed tempted to say “wait a minute, Isaiah is taking about his time”. The Bible says by two or three witnesses let all things be established.

Revelation 13: 8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 9 If any man have an ear, let him hear. 10 he that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

Is this Isaiah’s time? This is here and now. This is our age. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity. Who is leading into captivity? Who is leading the saints into captivity? The preachers! Preaching off the word and preaching a second hand gospel and preaching their own dogmas. They are leading the children of God into captivity. Look at our scripture.

11Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink: that continue until night, till wine inflame them!

He is not talking about drunks here. This isn’t alcoholism. He is talking about a religious spirit, a religious fervor. They rise early with a religious fervor, they are full of religious emotion to the point where they become intoxicated and inflamed with it. Inflamed by it. Set on fire. Excited! They dance all over the stage, jump up and down and shout and scream from the pulpit. And the people in the benches are even worse. They put on a big show with lots of emotion. Church has become a Broadway musical these days. They get charged up and charge up the people and everyone is jumping and dancing and shouting “Amen!” to every word and not even paying attention to check what is being said.

2 Peter 2:1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you; whose judgment now of a long time lingerth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

There is your third witness. They with feigned words and fair speeches will lead into captivity. They will preach up a storm. There will be a huge emotional rush through the people. And they are doing it for money. Do you know how much they are making? Brother Branham refused to drive a Cadillac because he felt that he should not be driving a better car than the average man, and the cars they drive today put a Cadillac to shame. A brand new Cady would be a down payment for some of the cars, and jet airplanes, owned by preachers today. They have a religious spirit and the people sitting and listening will catch the same spirit and be taken captive by it. It is a very dangerous thing.

12And the harp, and the viol, the babret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the lord, neither consider the operation of his hands.

The churches will have the best music programs, the best buildings, the most beautiful architecture, the most professional sound system, the most wonderful organization, but they also will “not regard the word of the Lord not consider the operation of his hands”. Quite a thought that such a big beautiful church who claims to follow the message and believe the word would be so far off from it as to not even consider it nor regard it. How can this be?

Religious Hypocrisy

Matthew 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 Teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

There you have it. Religious hypocrisy! We can sing, and we can have the best orchestra filled with university graduated musicians. We can praise, and we can pray, and we can worship, and we can call out in Jesus name. We can read the Bible, and we can quote the prophet and put his picture up all over our churches and homes, but if we disregard the Revealed Word of God in favour of a doctrine of man, no matter how good it sounds, how logical it is, then all of our worship is in vain. It all starts at the pulpit.

We have lots of preachers but very few Word preachers. Jesus said it would be this way. He said the harvest is great and the labourers are few. Pray for labourers! Pray that the Lord God would call more Spirit filled men to the field who will actually consider the operations of God, and regard the works of the Lord, and not care about the money or the popularity. Pray for men who know God and have intimate knowledge of his ways and his Word. How can I introduce you to someone who I do not know myself? We need Holy Spirit filled, God sent, anointed preachers. We have too many religious men and not enough Godly men. It has always been that way. One Elijah to 450 prophets of Baal. One Elisha to a whole host of worldly prophets. One Micah to 400 prophets with lying spirits.

It is the even worse today!

And these false anointed preachers are taking the people captive by the millions. Good people, children of God are being taken captive by these religious spirits in religious preachers. And you might ask why is it that they are able to take the children of God captive? Good question.

Knowledge

13 Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.

Knowledge! The people are gone into captivity “because they have no knowledge”. Surprised? No knowledge. That is God’s own words from the mouth of his holy anointed, spirit filled prophet, not mine. God says the people, the message people, the message preachers, have no knowledge. As I pointed out earlier, we have both the Bible in print and the Message that reveals the Bible, both in print and on tape, and we hear it over and over and can quote from 3,000 hours of preaching by a vindicated prophet of God, and the Lord God says we have no knowledge.

The message believers today have no knowledge!

Knowledge of God does not come with Bible reading. Knowledge of God does not come with church going. Knowledge of God does not come with message listening. You do not get knowledge of God by pressing the play button. That might rub some wrong but just wait a moment, bear with me, and you will see. Knowledge of God does not come with singing or playing an instrument. If any of those would bring you knowledge of God then Saul of Tarsus would have known God personally for he was the most educated theologian in all of Israel. Yet when Saul came face to face with the Lord Jesus in the pillar of fire, he realized that he did not know anything of God whatsoever.

Knowledge of God comes only from a personal experience with God!

Saul learned more of the Lord God in those three or four minutes in front of that pillar of fire than in many years of Bible School and Seminary. Moses learned more of God in a few moments with a burning bush than in 80 years of life and 40 years of the best education that the world had to offer. In order to know God, to have knowledge of who and what the Lord God is, we have to meet God personally. Some will point quite accurately to the fact that the prophet directed us not to preach until we have seen God personally. Amen! But if you look to the message he went even further to say that you are not even a Christian until you have met God personally. And if we have not met him then how can we know him and if we do not know him, and have no knowledge of him, then we will be taken into captivity.

Our scripture goes on to say that the honorable men are famished. Starved! They are not being fed. The preachers are preaching, the singers are singing and the righteous are starving for the Word of God. How can this be brothers and sisters?

Preachers

False Anointed at the End Times

Quoting another preacher, even a vindicated prophet, will never feed a true child of God. An eagle needs fresh meat, not left-overs chewed out from another man’s sermons. Brother Branham was a Word Prophet and as a Word Prophet he pointed us back to the Word of God alone. Every Word preacher will point you back to the Word of God alone as well. If the preacher has the same spirit as the prophet did, then he will preach the same way as the prophet did. The prophet preached from the Word.

Not only do the honorable suffer, but it says that the multitude is dried up with thirst. Thirst for the water of the spirit and a parched thirst for the moving of the spirit. There is a famine of hearing the Word of God and a thirst for the spirit that is not being met in the churches today. Remember the foolish virgins have no oil. The Laodicean church has no oil, only the Bride does. The church has no oil because they have no knowledge of God. And they have no knowledge of God because they have not met God. And they have not met God because they are not being told to seek him, and not being led to him. Right back to the pulpit again!

2 Timothy 2: 24And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, 25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; If God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 26 and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

Straight from the pulpit it comes. We must not fight and argue but teach the truth for that will lead men to repentance, and by repenting they will meet God and He shall recover them from the snare of the devil, the religious spirit, that takes them captive at will. If the people are not told, then the people will not know. The watchman is responsible to the people to warn of the enemy.

For months every time I opened the Bible, any Bible, it always turned to the same spot, and every time I read it, it spoke loudly to me.

Ezekiel 13:1And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the Lord; 3 Thus saith the Lord God; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! 4 O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts. 5 They have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord. 6 They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The Lord saith: and the Lord hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word. 7 Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The Lord Saith it; albeit I have not spoken? 8 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you saith the Lord God. 9And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord God.

Foolish teachers, ministers of any kind really, following their own spirit. They don’t stand in the breach. They are not sent of the Lord. they divine lies by preaching doctrines of men. They are taking the children of God captive by religion. These are not prophets of Baal that the Lord God is addressing here, these are prophets of spiritual Israel. These are not the denominations, these are the message preachers of today. Certainly there are good message preachers but this is not addressing them. This is quite accurately aimed at a select group of men that were not sent by God, but went according to their own ideas preaching for gain. And when these men get hold of a pulpit they will build big groups; huge groups, that have lots of religion, lots of emotion, but are starving for the Word and the Spirit of God.

We are just a little family here today but we desperately need to know this. If we do not come to know the Lord God personally through an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, then we will be taken captive by a religious spirit. If we are in the wrong place, then we will be starved for the word, parched for the spirit, and surrounded by religious pomp and celebration. The Bible said that we are to offer up the sacrifice of praise, but if that sacrifice is not washed then it is an abomination to God. Religious pomp and celebration, no matter how skilled or sweet to the ear, if it is not sanctified by the Holy Spirit of God, it is an abomination unto him.

Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

There is our answer. Jesus! He alone can set us free. He alone can give us liberty. He alone can free us from the spirits that threaten to take us captive. And he does it personally, not by creed, not by dogmas, not by church going, but by meeting him personally and getting to know him personally. We must regard the work of the Lord. We must consider his operations. God is alive and well. He is a miracle God. He is the same yesterday today and forever. Everything that is written in the Bible about him is just as true today as it was the day it was written.

Don’t get caught up in emotion. Don’t get caught up in a big show. Don’t get distracted by large crowds. Do not let a fancy building catch your eye. Get caught up in the spirit of God. The songs and the worship and the celebration are all important and even vital, but without the Spirit of God, it is dead. Where are the gifts? Where are the miracles? God is a miracle God. We point to the signs, wonders and miracles in Brother Branham’s ministry, but where are they in our lives? In Jesus’ day they pointed to Moses. In our day they point to Brother Branham. Let us look instead to Jesus. Let’s be like Gideon, the mighty man of valour, let’s seek out God personally and seek out his moving in our lives personally.

God is here right now to meet us. His spirit, the pillar of fire, is right there in the room with you at this very moment. He is waiting to hear from you, waiting for your invitation. He is waiting for you to regard His works and to consider His operations. Let’s all come together in one accord to consider His operations. Let’s all agree to regard His works. And not the works and operations of yesterday, but God’s works today in our lives, in our midst, right there in that room at the moment you are reading this.

The Bible says that the Lord is closer to you than your own breath. He is right there with you. The pillar of fire is right before you. Can you feel him? He is there filling the room. Seek him! Cry out to him! Reach out to him!

LAW, GOD’S LAW

Our Schoolmaster unto Salvation

Law and Grace Woven in the Scriptures

The Lord God Jehovah gave us a law. We find that law written throughout the pages of the Old Testament. That law condemned us all to die because none of us were able to follow it. And we should also remember that the Bible says in James that if we break one word of the law we are guilty of the whole law. The penalty for breaking the law is death. God, however, did not want us all to die, he wanted us to live. To accomplish his goal, the Lord God came veiled in the flesh in the man of Jesus Christ and fulfilled the entire law and took all of our sins upon himself and gave his life in place of ours.

It was you and I that were condemned to die on that cross, for you and I committed the sins that put Jesus there. But Jesus Christ, the great Kinsmen Redeemer, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the bright morning star, the rose of Sharron, the lily of the valley, the prince of peace, took your sins and my sins and all of our iniquities and bled and died there for you and I so that we might live with him forever.

This is a very well known doctrine to church going folks. If the Lord will, I would like to look a little deeper into it, to see exactly what the law was, why it was given and exactly what the Bible is telling us when it says that Jesus “fulfilled” the law. We also like to say that we are no longer under the law. We will by the grace of God look a little deeper into that statement and root out in the scriptures exactly what this means. Some will be very surprised indeed by what we will find.

Galatians 3: 19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

So the Bible says that the law is there to deal with transgressions, and the law exists because of those transgressions. This is an interesting and important point. Most would naturally think that the transgressions must come as a result of the law, but we find it written here in the opposite order. The law was added because of transgressions. First the transgressions existed, then the law was added because of them. The law is God’s answer to transgressions.

And the Word says that the law will continue UNTIL the seed should come to whom the promise was made. Who was that promised seed of Abraham, the promised seed of the woman back in the Garden of Eden? God said unto the serpent in Genesis chapter three that “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and the woman’s seed, and you shall bruise his heal, but he shall bruise your head”. The seed of the woman, the promised seed, was none other than Jesus Christ.

Now notice that the law actually existed before Moses. Moses did not write the law, he merely penned it as God spoke it to him. And in fact the famous Ten Commandments were even penned by the Lord God himself as he wrote them in stone with his own finger as the prophet Moses stood by and watched. The law actually started way back in Eden. I used to think that it started with Moses myself but the word explicitly says otherwise.

The first law was “eat not of the fruit for the day you eat thereof you will die”. That was the law in Eden. That was the only law they had at that time. Don’t eat and if you eat you die. It was short, it was simple and it was the law.

Notice now the two components of a law. Every law must have these two components or it is not a law. The first essential component is the thing that you are not supposed to do, and the second is the consequences for doing it. “Do not eat”: was the thing you aren’t supposed to do. And, “IF you eat you die”: was the unconditional Consequences. And every law has these two components.

Without both components it is not a law. Without a commandment it has no direction, and every law must be enforceable. Therefore if there is no consequence for breaking the law then the law is no longer enforceable and of no effect. Adam and Eve did not know much of the law back then but what they did know they were more than able to transgress.

The Bible said the Law was “added” because of transgressions. It was “added”, not just given in one shot but added, which in the Greek is prostithemi which is a verb meaning to increase or to proceed further in giving. So the law was given, but not at once, not in one place or at one specific time but rather it was given and increased over the passage of time, and proceeded further in its giving because of transgressions. The law unfolded with time. The law was a progressive revelation.

So is that it, or is there a deeper reason? Nothing happens without reason and there is no coincidence in life. Is there something more here, another layer? Why would God give the law out in a piecemeal fashion, a little here and a little there, and not in one big lump right at the beginning?

What is the underlying purpose of the law? We know it was given because of transgressions, but how was the law supposed to deal with those transgressions? What was the law doing with those transgressions and with the people it was given to? What is the relationship between us, the law, and the transgressions, and God the law giver and judge? The Bible gives us those answers.

Galatians 3:24Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

The law was our Schoolmaster. It is our teacher. The Bible says that it was brought in and added because of transgressions AND its purpose was to bring us unto Jesus Christ by teaching us as a schoolmaster. Then after the law brings us to Christ we might be justified by faith. That is a mouthful.

It doesn’t say that we can be justified by the law. The law does not and cannot justify anyone for every word of the law that we transgress condemns us to death. Rather, the law brings us to a place where we can be justified. And it brings us there by teaching us something. So if the law brings us to a place where we can be justified by faith through teaching us, then we need to know exactly what the law is supposed to be teaching us?

Romans 4:15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.

This ties in nicely with our central theme and opens the door a little more for us. It goes back a couple of scriptures and weaves itself in. So putting it together so far we see that the law was added because of transgressions and without the law there are transgressions, but we do not know of them and are left guiltless of the law. Why is there no guilt of transgressions without the law? The law alone determines what is, and what is not a transgression. So if there is no law, there is no crime. The act still exists, and the act can be against the perfect will of God, but there can be no crime assigned.

Look at the internet today. It is very new so there are almost no laws in place to govern what goes on with it. And when people are using it wrongly or for some evil purpose, nobody can hold them accountable in this world for their actions because there is no law on the books to charge them with. There is no commandment, and there are no consequences. So until someone writes a law, the police and the courts have no justification in arresting the people. They have nothing to charge them with. There might be horrible acts going on but there is no crime.

But once the law is in place you cannot do those same things anymore. You could do them before but the law is written but once the law is written, then the act becomes a crime. This is a very important and interesting point to note. The law is not retroactive. God created time for a purpose and uses time and has given us definite timelines within the plan of salvation.

So if you commit an offense yesterday and they bring in a law against it today you are free. But if you commit that same thing tomorrow, you go to jail, even if you have been doing it for years before without fault.

Here is an earthly example. The road from your house to work is not very busy and the speed limit is 50 mph. You drive it every day at 50 mph for 15 years. Then as the city develops the area and the road gets busier and someone decides that 50 mph is too fast and one Tuesday morning the speed limit is reduced to 30 mph. It does not matter that you have been driving at 50 for all those years. If you drive at 31 mph today you will get a ticket for speeding. You will not be ticketed for driving 50 mph on Monday, but Tuesday driving that very same road, in that very same car, at that very same speed will earn you a fine. On Monday it is an act with impunity, but on Tuesday that very same act becomes a crime with a punishment.

Here is a spiritual example from the scriptures. Abraham married his sister Sarah. She was his half sister and he took her for his wife. God blessed the union such that he gave them a miracle baby and made that baby the promised seed through whom God would bless the entire planet and every living soul on it. Keeping that fact in mind let us look at what the law of Moses clearly says about the act of a man marrying his sister.

Leviticus 18:9 The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of they father OR the daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.

It is needful to note the word “or” in this passage. The word or is in there for a reason. Some will say “but Sarah was his Half sister”. The law doesn’t say the daughter of thy father AND mother, it says the daughter of thy father OR mother. So according to the law of Moses, Abraham committed sin punishable by death. Abraham clearly violated the laws of Moses. How could God bless a union that was in clear violation of his law that he gave us through his prophet?

Abraham married his sister, an act which is condemned by God’s law. That we have established. Did Abraham sin? Absolutely not! Why? The law clearly shows that what Abraham did with Sarah in marrying her was a direct contravention of the law of God as written by his prophet Moses. So if Abraham transgressed the direct commandment of God, then how is there no sin?

The law concerning that transgression had not yet been added. Without law there is no guilt of transgression. And it wasn’t just Abraham that married his sister. Abel. Seth. Enos. The first few men had no choice, they either had to marry a sister or not marry at all for there were no other women on the planet. But it was not sin because there was no law concerning it yet and where there is no law there is no guilt of transgression. But don’t you do it today. If you do it today you will be found guilty and condemned with the world.

Now does that mean that if we don’t know the law we are saved? No don’t go getting that idea. Even in the laws of man, the ignorance of the law is not a valid excuse. The Bible covers that too:

Romans 2: 12For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law.

They did not know any better so they are judged outside of the law. They however still do not have Christ because it is the law that is the schoolmaster that leads us to Christ. So without the law they are not judged in the law, yet they still do not, and cannot, have Christ. So since the law leads us to Christ we cannot find salvation outside of the law, and since the law cannot justify us we cannot find salvation IN the law either. The law leads us to Jesus Christ, who is the salvation, the resurrection and the life. Jesus said:

Luke 12: 47 And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

See, the law teaches us to come to Christ, but if we do not come, the punishment is most severe. Ignorance is no excuse. The one who did not know of the law was still beaten with stripes. But the one who knew it was doubly guilty, first for transgressing the law and then also for disregarding the law which he knew. The Bible goes on to say in Hebrews that if we sin willfully after we come to the knowledge of the truth there is no more sacrifice for sin but a certain fearful looking for judgment.

Matthew 7:21 Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Jesus tells us here that we must do the will of the Father if we are to have any hope of entering the kingdom of Heaven. Then in order to be saved we need to know exactly what is the will of the Father? How can we know what the will of the Father is?

We need someone to teach us what the Will of the Father is or we could never know it. Without a teacher we are lost. God provided a teacher and not just any old teacher but a schoolmaster. The law is our schoolmaster. The law tells us what sin is, and what is not sin. It is the law that teaches us what the perfect will of God is. The law was added because of transgressions against God’s perfect will. It was added to teach us what those transgressions are and to show us what our reward is if we do them. Without the law how would we know? How would you know what God required of you unless He told you? You could try guessing. Lots of churches do that and look where it got them. We have over a thousand “Christian” churches today all preaching different, all preaching a different “perfect will of God”. God can only have ONE perfect will.

So the Law is our schoolmaster. Unfortunately that leaves us with a peculiar little paradox. We are told conclusively that we need the law, and that it is the law that teaches us the perfect will of God and leads us to Christ that we might be justified. But the Bible also says:

Galatians 5:18But if ye be led of the spirit, ye are not under the law.

How can we resolve this apparent contradiction? Like I said many times in the past, every line has to run true or it isn’t Bible. The Bible is incapable of contradicting itself, so if we find a contradiction then we must be off the scriptures somewhere.

If our doctrine gets stuck somewhere in scripture then that is a sign that our doctrine is wrong and we have to start over. Always remember that. If we have to explain away a single line of scripture, then our Urim Thummim, the Holy Bible, the Word of God, is telling us that we are wrong. Every doctrine of God lines up perfectly with every single word in the Bible. There are no mistakes.

But are we stuck with a contradiction or do we just need a couple of scriptures to bridge the gap in our understanding? There isn’t any gap in the Word, it’s complete and perfect. The gap is in our understanding of the Word, or rather our lack of understanding of the Word of God.

So let’s find the bridge that ties the two thoughts perfectly together.

The law is our schoolmaster, which the Bible says in Galatians, has two purposes. It first brings us to Christ. Second, in bringing us to Christ it brings us to a place where we can be justified by faith.

Lets start with the first thought. The law is our schoolmaster which brings us to Christ. So the law teaches us something, and what we learn from the law somehow brings us to Christ. Is that right? What does the law teach us?

We’ve already seen that it teaches us what is and what is not sin by showing us and defining what transgressions are. It clearly demonstrates to us what the perfect will of God is and thus shows us when we are not in the perfect will of God.

If we know what the crimes are, then we know what God wants us to avoid doing. And if we know what God wants us to NOT do, then by default does it not also tell us what God wants us to do? And if we know what God wants us to do, and we know what God wants us to not do, doesn’t that mean that we know the will of God? It makes sense doesn’t it? This brings us back to what Jesus said about who gets into the kingdom, those who do the will of my Father. And now by the teaching of the schoolmaster, we can know what the will is.

How can you do the will if you don’t know what the will is? We’ve come full circle. So the schoolmaster teaches us the Will of God. Is that all it teaches? Is that all we need, to know what the transgressions are? Will that in and of itself bring us to Christ and to justification by faith? The Bible says no. The Bible says it is not enough to know the law. It is not enough to know the will of the father. Jesus didn’t say those who know the will of the Father get into heaven, but only those who DO the will of the Father. Remember it also says in James chapter two “you believe in one God, you have done well, the devil also believes and trembles”. (Most churches today don’t even believe in one God, they believe in three Gods. They are not even as spiritual as the devil.)

James 1: 22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

Knowing right from wrong is not enough, we must be doers of the word and not hearers only. And James pointed out that it is the law that teaches us as well.

St. John 9:41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

Jesus said if you didn’t know better then there was no sin, but since you do know better, and you claim to know better, your sin remains. They knew the will of the Father, they had the schoolmaster of the law, but they did not obey and they did not receive its teaching. They had been under its teaching their whole lives. But still it wasn’t enough. Was it just because they did not obey the law?

Lets take an example:

Mark 10:17 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him , Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? 18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God. 19 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. 20 And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. 21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross and follow me.

So here we have someone who knows the law, and who keeps the law and has kept it his whole life, yet that wasn’t enough because he could see that he did not possess eternal life. He still was not justified. Knowing and keeping the law did not justify him. The law cannot justify us.

The law is our schoolmaster, and it teaches us what the transgressions are. And in teaching us it is supposed to bring us to Christ but the law itself cannot justify us. We can have the whole law and yet be unjustified as the rich ruler was. He had the law and the Bible says he even kept it from his youth, but he did not have eternal life. He was not justified. He was lost.

But it is not the law that justifies us. It was never intended to justify us but to bring us to the One that would justify us. That man is Jesus Christ. And he justified us through the law by fulfilling the law. Remember earlier we said the law has two components. One told us what not to do. And the other told us of the penalty for transgression. The first part was accomplished to John the Baptist time. That is what Jesus said. The law and the prophets were unto John. So the Old Testament is the schoolmaster that shows us what not to do and what to do. Where does Jesus come in?

Jesus Christ fulfilled the entire law. The law was added until John then Jesus, the great capstone, fulfilled the law. He fulfilled the law first by taking the commandment part of the law and changing it from an external law to an internal law. In the old testament it was a physical do or do not. But Jesus tells us that it is not enough to maintain a physical outer law. We must have the law internally.

Matthew 5: 21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. BUT I SAY unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of the judgment.

Just stop there for a moment. If we are angry at a brother without cause we are guilty of murder? Is that what Jesus is saying. He said in old days you had to actually take the life but today it is sufficient to hate without cause. The External law is transformed to an Internal law today. God said in our day he would write his word upon our hearts and minds. So if it is written on our hearts and minds then it can also be also transgressed in our hearts and minds. This is an essential concept. I hope you are catching that.

Matthew 5:27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery: 28 BUT I SAY unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Jesus said that the person has “Committed it in his heart”. The law is written on our hearts so it is also transgressed in our hearts. So then what chance do we have? At least at one time it was a matter of subjugating the urges you felt and just not going out and doing them. Now to simply willfully entertain those things in our thoughts makes us guilty of sin. Is there any hope for any of us? Certainly not in the law, it condemns us to death. It condemns us internally.

1 John 3: 20 for if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God. 22 And whatsoever we ask we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

The law is now an internal law and will condemn us internally if we even desire to commit a transgression of the law.

But Jesus fulfilled the whole law. He fulfilled the first part. He fulfilled the law by completing the second part as well. He took the entire penalty for all transgressions upon himself. He took All the transgressions both external and internal. He paid the price in his flesh for every sin committed, past, present and future.

That is our only hope, our only salvation, our only reason to live, our only way to live. He alone is the truth the life and the way. He is all in all. Oh what miserable creatures we were without him. And when we receive Him we are set free from the law of sin. Here we get to a very crucial point. This is a point that will surprise most who read this. It is perfectly scriptural but little known. It is absolutely the Bible, absolutely the truth but hidden from most. Remember the paradox we just reviewed.

Galatians 5:18 But if ye be led of the spirit, ye are not under the law.

And also:

Galatians 3: 25 But AFTER that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

So the schoolmaster, the law, teaches us and bring us to Christ and then WHEN we receive Christ in faith, He justifies us through that faith because he fulfilled the law. At THIS POINT we are set free from the law. It is the very moment we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior that we are set free from the law. We were not set free 2000 years ago. He fulfilled his part back then, but we are not personally set free from the Law until the moment we accept Jesus Christ.

We are set free from the Law the moment we receive Christ, not before.

So what of those who have not received Christ? So what of those not led by the spirit? The term If always goes with then. If, then. IF, IF ye are led of the spirit THEN, ye are not under the law. We have to slow down here a little. This is going to be a chunk of meat for some I think.

So then are those who are not led by the spirit, those who refuse the spirit, those who refuse Christ still under the law? Absolutely!

Those who refuse Christ are still under the law!

They will have to stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an answer for every word in the law. We are either under the law or under grace, there is no third position. We are either in or out. We are either saved or lost. With law comes the judgment and if there were no law then there could not be judgment. And the Bible says he who offends the law in one word is guilty of all. Is that Bible? We mentioned it earlier.

James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

He is “guilty of all”. If we do not receive Jesus Christ as our saviour, if we are not justified by faith in Him, we will be held accountable for every letter of the law and we will be found Guilty of ALL.

Galatians 3:10 for as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in ALL things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

All the things, not some of them, not most of them, not all but one thing, A-L-L, ALL of them. If we are not in Christ Jesus then we are still under the entire written law. The New Testament is of absolutely none effect to us without the blood of Jesus Christ.

So then what do we do? Receive Christ! Sound good but how? Men and brethren what shall we do?

Acts 2: 37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? 38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

See, at this point Jesus had already died for our sins some 50 days ago and risen and ascended on high, but those men who witnessed the pouring out of the Holy Spirit were pricked in their hearts. They were internally condemned by the internal law of the Spirit of God. They were guilty of the law and condemned by it and they knew it. They realized they needed to be justified.

Peter said to them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. Do you see it? By receiving Jesus Christ we are set free from the law. Without law is no sin. We still committed the acts, but we are set free from the guilt of it. When we repent and are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, it is at that moment that we are set free from the law. It is at that moment in time that we are justified. Until that very second we were completely under the law and guilty of the whole law and condemned to death and hell.

And we must follow exactly for there is a way that seems right unto man the end thereof is death. The Bible gives us a very detailed description of how to receive Jesus Christ. First we must repent, get the inward law and acknowledge our transgressions and make right those things we had made wrong. Then we must be baptized in full immersion in water in the name of Jesus Christ. No other baptism, no baptism in titles, but specifically in the name of Jesus Christ. Thre is exactly one baptism. That is why in Acts chapter 19 a group of repentant believing Christians needed to be rebaptized in the name of Jesus Christ; their original baptism was in error.

Another place where people get lost here is they forget the repent part. Miss that and you go in a dry sinner and come out a wet one. Repent. Make the wrong into a right. Live according to His commandments. Die unto yourselves. Baptism is a burial. And today I think we bury to many live people.

St. John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him. If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. 24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.

What does it mean to “keep” his words? Does it just mean to know them? Does it maybe mean to not change them in any way? The Greek word used here is tereo which means to guard, obey and observe. The Greek word for prison has the same root. So how do we keep His words? It is more than to just know them or to maintain them. To keep the word of God is to imprison them in our hearts and minds. Don’t let them go. Guard them with our lives.

We guard them, we observe them, we obey them, we live them. But what of the law, we are free from the law. So how can we be free from law and yet still have commandments to obey? Are they not the same, commandments and law?

We saw how the law has two facets, a do or do not do, and a punishment for transgression. And we have seen that it is no more an external law but an internal law of the desires of the heart. But here we have commandments. Here we have a way of life laid out in print. And there is not a punishment for not transgressing his commandments.

If we do not keep his commandments then we are still under the law and the law contains the punishment. Do you see it? Jesus said if we keep his commandments, his words, then He will make his abode with us and justify us and free us from the law. So when we keep his words we are free from the law. Then, conversely, when we reject his words, any of his words, we are guilty under the law.

So then we need to receive Him. Have we received him? How do we know we have received him? How do we know we are justified?

Jesus said by their fruits ye shall know them. So what are the fruits? What was the sign of the spirit, the sign that the 120 were told by Jesus to watch for at Pentecost? The sign was Power. How does that power manifest? What is the fruit of that vine?

Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions heresies 21 envyings, murders, drunkenness, reveling, and such like: of which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they with do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith 23 meekness, temperance: against which there is not law.

See, the law is brought in because of transgressions, because of the work of the flesh, and the law condemns those works and assigns a punishment to them. But the fruit of the spirit aren’t transgressions so there is no law concerning them. So when we receive the spirit of God then we are free from works of the flesh and thus the law concerning those works, being justified by faith in Jesus Christ.

A little note here that I hope doesn’t concern anyone reading here. The word witchcraft doesn’t mean black magic here, it is from the Greek word pharmakeia which means drug user. It means a Drug user of any kind. We are not talking medicines we are talking recreational or addicted drug user. We are talking about cigarette smokers. It refers to marijuana smokers. It is pointing out heroin, MMDA, Cocaine, etc etc users. They are different words but all the same meaning. Paul says if you smoke you will NOT inherit the kingdom of God because you are still under the law as a transgressor of the law and will be judged by the law.

So get free from the works of the flesh today. Jesus Christ bled and died to set you free from those things. Accept him and his sacrifice today. Throw those things out of your life and be saved in Christ. Throw them in the garbage and go to your knees in prayer for strength to overcome, for faith to be delivered and he will give it to you because he promised it. God cannot lie. God cannot fail.

Why can we not live in the works of the flesh and be saved? Because the sprit and the flesh are contrary to each other and the works of the flesh are the very transgressions that the law was added for. We cannot serve God and mammon.

Romans 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and you members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness.

It says here to whom (personal pronoun) we yield ourselves to obey Him (personal pronoun) we serve. If we obey the spirit of God, THEN we are justified by faith and free from the law. But if we yield to sin and the spirit of the world, to the flesh, then we are not justified and still under the law and will be judged accordingly.

And it is not just a matter of doing the acts anymore. We saw earlier that it is a matter of WANTING to do them, of consciously desiring them. Now we are all tempted, that is for sure, and tempted in our weakness and in our flesh. The difference is in what we DECIDE to do about it. A battle rages in the mind of every Christian, the greatest battle ever fought. And the thoughts in our minds during this battle are not sin, they are temptations TO sin. They arise out of our flesh, and out of our weakness.

So what is the difference? When does our fleshly lusts, which we all have and will have until the rapture changes our bodies, when does it become sin? When is it a transgression? When is it the fruit of the flesh? The thoughts are the seed and a seed must germinate and grow to bear fruit. So then when does the seed of sin that the devil is trying to plant become the fruit of the flesh and sin?

James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. 13Let no man way when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be temped with evil, neither tempted he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

So the temptation is not sin but a blessing! That is hard to believe and I think most will reread that line because they will think they read it wrong the first time. The temptations are a blessing. The Bible says so. We are blessed when we endure temptation.

The fight in our minds, the evil thoughts that come up, the war we have with the devil on a daily basis, is a blessing to us IF we are overcomers. For when we are tried we receive a crown of life. But when do these trials become a sin, a transgression? When we let them conceive, when we make the decision that we want consciously to do them. It is not just having the desire in our flesh, that is the battle, but when we decide that yes I want to do that. That is when we become wilfull sinners. When we decide that even though we know the Word says not to do it, even though our schoolmaster says it is a transgression, we decide that we want to do it anyway. Then we let the thoughts enter our hearts.

It is at this point that sin conceives in us and bears the fruit in time. Remember Jesus said if a man looks at a woman to lust after her. A healthy man cannot look at a beautiful naked woman without being affected. But that isn’t sin. It is when he decides that he wants to keep looking and lusting, when the spirit says turn away and he thinks in his mind, NO, I like it and I am going to do it, that is when the sin conceives in his heart.

The devil will tell you that “oh you got tempted by this or that and you sinned and are lost”. That is a lie! The temptations are there to prove us, to try us, so that we may receive a crown. We just read that when we are tempted it is a BLESSING to us. The temptations are a blessing to us. It is when we yield to the temptation that we are doing wrong. And pay close attention here. This is a very important point. The devil will only tell you that you are wrong when you are right. And he will only tell you that you are right when you are wrong.

Did you get that? The devil will only tell you that you are lost when you are saved. If you are saved he will never point out your fault to you, he’ll point it out to everyone else, but never to you because he knows once you see your fault that you will repent and be free from it being justified by Jesus Christ. Do you see it?

He will try to get you to compromise on the word. He will try to get you to believe his interpretation where he explains away scripture. He will play with your pride by praising you to try to get you to be proud and steal God’s glory. And he will use your pride by insulting and attacking you to try to get you to step out from the word and defend yourself. And the big one here, he will try and convince you that you sinned a sin beyond salvation, that you are serpent’s seed, that you have gone too far. He will only tell you that when it is a lie because he is a liar. And he will only tell you that when it is not true because-

SATAN IS ONLY AT WAR WITH THE SAINTS!

Did you get that? The devil is only at war with the saints. His battle is with the predestinated children of God. He will never say those things to the lost. He is trying to convince you of his lie by telling you that you are lost. But the Bible says that “all those who cry out in the name of the Lord shall be saved”. The Bible says that “he will never leave us or forsake us”. Is that Bible? Then what the devil says must be a lie.

He will also tell you that you are saved when you are not. He will tell you that what I have said up here today is bunk and not worth the effort to listen to. He is looking to destroy you. If he can’t destroy you completely he at least wants to make you a foolish virgin. He will tell you that you are fine when you are not. And he will tell you that you are lost and unsavable when you are already saved and justified by Jesus Christ.

That devil is cagey and sly but the Bible shows us his colours. Remember the spirit of God shows you your wrongs AND the way to repentance. The law, the schoolmaster is there to lead us the Christ. Is that what we read? The law shows us what transgressions are, and leads us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Amen? So when your mind and thoughts show you that you are wrong and going into judgment with no hope, then that is not God doing it. God shows you your wrongs and leads you to repentance and takes the guilt away.

God doesn’t tell you that you are hopelessly lost, he tells you that he has saved you and that he wants you to repent and come back to him. The one telling you that you are lost and beyond hope is the devil. And he is a liar. He always was a liar and always will be a liar. Don’t believe a word of it. There certainly will be a time when it will be too late to repent, but don’t think the devil will remind you of that. He wants to convince you to give up, to believe that you are too bad, too evil, too weak, too sinful to be saved. DON”T BELIEVE IT!

The law is our schoolmaster which shows us what transgressions are that we may come repenting to Christ and receive Jesus and be justified by Christ in faith. The law, the Bible, shows us that we are wrong so that we might have cause to repent and come to Christ. The Law shows us our faults so that we might make them right. The law shows us our weakness so that we may seek the strength of Jesus Christ. The law shows us our unrighteousness so that we may seek to be covered in the robes of His righteousness. The law shows us our sin so that we may wash it in the blood of the lamb. The law shows us judgment that we may find grace.

Fight the fight. Put on the whole armour of God. Give NO place to the devil. Make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof. Don’t allow your fleshly lusts to conceive sin. Get into Christ. Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and receive the Holy Spirit. It is for you. It is God’s promise to you. Get out from under the law and under the all sufficient umbrella of grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The door is still open, He is still on the mercy seat, the fountain is open deep and wide to wash away all your sin, all your iniquity and make you a new creation in Christ Jesus the Lord. Get everything under the blood Jesus Christ. Let the schoolmaster show you what is wrong that you might make it right. Examine the rule of the schoolmaster that you might be led to Christ and justified by faith in him.

There is no other salvation, nor any other name given where we can find salvation. Jesus Christ alone, in him dwells the fullness of the godhead bodily.

The Bible goes on to say that in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God and the word was made flesh and dwelt amongst men. Jesus Christ is the word of God made flesh. The Bible is Jesus Christ, the word of God, in print. Paul says to change a word, even if you were an angel from heaven, you get you cursed. We must accept the whole word of God, the entire Bible, exactly as it is written with no interpretations or changes. Our doctrine must hold true from Genesis to Revelation. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever. His word will never change.

Look into the perfect law of liberty today and let it lead you to the one salvation, the one true God and eternal life, the Lord Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is the healer of all of our diseases. He forgives all of your transgressions. Accept him as your Lord and savior. Repent and be baptized in his name and come out from under the bondage of the law today.

We, as Children of God, must Fulfill All Righteousness in Christ Jesus. We first, however, need to understand how. I have endeavoured to lay it out briefly below, but we all need a spiritual revelation, not simply intellectual understanding. So read this, brothers and sisters, read it carefully, but don’t take my word for anything. I can make mistakes too. Pray over it, compare it with scriptures, and wait for the Lord to reveal it to you personally. I assure you that what I have outlined below is the absolute truth, line upon line, precept upon precept, word upon word, but you need to let the Lord assure you through a Holy Spirit Revelation. Once He opens His Word to you, then nobody can take it away from you, or sway you into any compromise ever again.

Matthew 3: 13Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. 14But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? 15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.

Jesus was perfect. He was standing there before his prophet as Jehovah God in human flesh. Yet he came to the man that he created and asked to be baptized of him. To the prophet this did not make any sense. What purpose could it possibly serve for creation to baptize the creator. The creator I say? Yes.

John 1:In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2The same was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

In the Lord Jesus Christ dwelled the fullness of the godhead bodily. Here was Jehovah God in flesh, demanding that a mere mortal sinner baptize him. When John, totally confused by this situation, asked why, Jesus said it was to “fulfill all righteousness”. That is a great answer, but what does that mean?

How does it fulfill all righteousness?

We need to take a step back. Everything that is created in the physical world is a replica of a spiritual counterpart. That idea is new to many people. But if you search the scriptures you will find that it is the absolute truth. In fact the Bible itself is actually the complete testimony of Jesus Christ; it is God in print.

Jesus told us that. But again that idea needs to be expanded upon. Let’s take an example from the Bible.

Joseph was a prophet, a very spiritual man. The Lord gave him dreams. He was loved of his father above all his brothers. His father loved him so much that he made him a special coat, a coat of many colours. His brothers were very jealous of him. They sold him out into slavery, to the Egyptians.

Jesus too was a prophet, a spiritual man, loved of the Lord above all. He was given a sign of the dove that he was the blessed one. Judas sold him out to the Romans.

Joseph ended up in prison, Jesus after his crucifixion went into hell. With Joseph were a baker and a butler. One man was saved and one man was lost. Jesus was on the cross with two thieves, one was saved and one was lost.

Joseph came out of prison to sit at the right hand of Pharaoh. No man come come to Pharaoh but through Joseph. Jesus sits at the right hand of God and no man can come to God but through the Lord Jesus Christ. When Joseph went into the city, a trumpet was blown and every knee had to bow to him. When Jesus returns at the last trump, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Joseph took a gentile bride. Jesus has done the same. That Bride is the born again, spirit filled church. There was a remnant born to Israel after Joseph’s departure, Benjamin. Before Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, to the remnant, he first sent his gentile bride out. Before Jesus returns to Israel, to the 144,000 with Moses and Elijah, he will rapture his gentile bride home.

Joseph is a perfect type of Jesus Christ. His life, unknown to him at the time, was arranged by the Lord so that every step would reveal the Lord Jesus Christ. You can see Christ in every other scripture, in every other prophet. Ruth for example, is not just a random story of some woman, it is the entire plan of salvation for all mankind demonstrated through Boaz, the Kinsmen Redeemer of Ruth.

So then where does the baptism fit in? Jesus Christ was the Lamb of God, slain before the foundation of the world, slain for the sin of man. He is our sacrifice. John, playing the role of the priest, had to wash the sacrifice before it could be presented. John fulfilled all righteousness, he fulfilled the righteousness of God.

What does this mean for us today? In everything we do, in our churches, in our families, at our jobs, we must also fulfill all righteousness. We, as Christians, are the only Bibles many people will read. We, therefore, are also the living testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ to this generation.

We will all be held accountable for it! The Lord Jesus will judge us on it.

Have we fulfilled all righteousness? Have we in our lives fulfilled the Righteousness of God?

So now let us look again at some examples from the Bible. I mentioned that Jesus has taken a gentile bride. That is a strange thing to say isn’t it? But remember, as we saw earlier, every single thing physical in this universe is a type of something spiritual. Our marriages, the relationship between a man and his wife, and the children, are all a type of something far greater.

Jesus Christ the Lord is our Bridegroom. We the Church are the Bride. He is our head. He makes decisions for us. We the Church, do as he our Lord dictates. Now not to sound vulgar, but this is simple biology.

The Bridegroom puts his seed into the Bride, and she bares him children like unto himself. This is true in the physical and the spiritual. The children are the image of the Father.

Genesis 1: 11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 12And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good……24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.25And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Notice the seed is after “his” kind. You see, God is the creator. The earth is the incubator. God is preeminent and above all. He does not share his glory. So the physical type to show God, must perfectly represent him. Therefore the seed MUST be carried by the male, the bridegroom.

So then what is the seed of God? God’s seed is His Word, Logos. God’s Word is a seed that carries the life, the spirit, of God. We are the Church, the Bride. The Lord puts his seed, his Word, into the Church, and the Church incubates Christians that are in the likeness and image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our earthly human families have been designed by the Lord God to be the very image and expression of the relationship between the Lord Jesus Christ and the Church Spiritual.

This is why there are many things in the Bible that don’t make logical sense to many people. They are thinking carnally, and not spiritually. They are not looking at things through the lens of the Revealed Word of God for the Hour. Now does this scripture make more sense?

Ephesians 5: 22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

It has nothing to do with ability, or intelligence, or skills, or education, or anything else carnal. It is all simply to Fulfill All Righteousness. A woman that is filled with the Holy Spirit will rejoice to submit herself to her husband, as John rejoiced to baptize the Lord Jesus Christ. In so doing, she is not simply obeying the scripture, she is fulfilling all righteousness and being the same kind of testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ that the prophet Joseph was, and will receive equal reward.

Similarly on that note:

1 Timothy 2: 11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. 13For Adam was first formed, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

Are there women that are smarter than men, smarter than their male preachers? Absolutely, many of them. Are there women who are better public speakers? Of course there are. Are there women who have memorized scriptures better? Yes. Does the Lord God permit any of them to preach? No. Why? We just went over that. Men are the type of Christ in the relationship. Women are the type of the Church.

The seed is with the man!

Every seed after HIS kind. The seed is from the Lord. The Church lives by the Word of the Lord, not the other way around. And the Church cannot impregnate itself in the spiritual any more than a female can in the natural. The Lord, the Bridegroom sends his Word, his Seed, into the Church, and the Church incubates that Seed, that Word, producing children of God. Since the Seed comes from the male, the preaching comes from the male. It is the perfect type.

Once again, with a little revelation, any spirit filled born again Christian woman reading this will rejoice. She will realize that her submission has nothing to do with being a lesser person, but rather with identifying herself in the Word of God and fulfilling all righteousness. Sisters in Christ, never put yourselves down or allow anyone else to put you down for standing firmly in your place in Christ Jesus. Your reward is with HIM, and he shall reward you openly to the shame of the whole world.

And any ladies out there who are preaching, please, please pray over this and line yourself up with the word so that you too can fulfill all righteousness, identify Christ to the world, and receive the manifold blessings of being a living testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now let me take a moment here to also relay that not all men are called to preach. In fact very few are. There are so few called to the ministry that the Lord told us to pray for workers.

Matthew 9: 37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few. 38Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.

You might be inclined to say “few? there is a televangelist on every TV station and a church on every corner”. Yes there indeed are. But how many of them have the commission of the Lord? Very, very few. That is what the Lord Jesus said. So men, before you get behind the pulpit, ask yourself why you are there. If you want to be there, then you should not be there. If it burns inside you and you have to do it even though you would prefer not too, then maybe you are called for it. If you have not had a supernatural event that led you there, stop and wait for one.

So now back to the idea of fulfilling all righteousness. Preaching only when you are called is one way. Preaching strict on the word is part of that.

But it is our lives that make the difference.

How do we know somebody is a Christian? Is it that they smile a lot? Do they carry crosses or pack Bibles everywhere?

Matthew 7: 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

That is pretty simple. So what are the fruits?

Galatians 5: 19Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Which fruits do you bear? Both types are listed here. I guarantee you that every single human being on this ball we call Earth displays one or the other. We are either bearing the fruit of the flesh, or the Spirit. And we can only bear the fruit of the Spirit IF the Spirit of God dwells in us. If we had the spirit of Mozart we would write beautiful music. If we had the spirit of Einstein we would be master physicists. If we have the Spirit of Jesus Christ then we will fulfill all righteousness.

So long as we are in the flesh we are not fulfilling any righteousness.

Romans 8: 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 5For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

That is a big chunk of meat, but the truth. The “righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit”. If you are walking after the Spirit, led by the Holy Spirit of God, then you are fulfilling all righteousness. You are not producing it, you simply bear it. A sheep does not produce wool. It does not get up every morning and measure its wool and make a plan to get more. It does not even think of it. The sheep simply lives its life, eats grass, drinks water, takes a nap. And without a thought of it, the sheep bears the wool.

A Christian does not produce the fruit. A Christian does not think about how he or she should behave or react. A Christian simply lives the life of Jesus Christ and the fruits of the Holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ are born naturally, and in many cases supernaturally, in their lives.

Those who have to plan and calculate “what a Christian would do” are Pharisees. These are the true legalists. They are disciplined. They are controlled. They are artificial, wolves in sheep skins. They live double lives. Outwardly they are sweet like sugar, but inwardly bitter and hateful. They will hold a grudge forever. They will destroy all those who are in their way. They will fleece the true sheep for every dime they can. The Bible speaks amply of these types.

But we are not concerned with them, we are concerned with the Children of the Living God. We are concerned with Fulfilling All Righteousness. We are concerned to do that which the Bridegroom commands of us, that we may, as Joseph of old, be a living testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ to our generation. We are concerned to edify the mystical body of Jesus Christ. We are concerned to be pleasing unto him.